Ruva's Story
by Readstoomanybooks
Summary: Ruva is a young girl who lives in Medora. Hear her story about the world and how it changes around her. DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT LYNETTE NONI AND DO NOT OWN THE MEDORAN CHRONICLES / New chapters added weekly
1. Chapter 1

**To put this into context, if Alex was mentioned in this chapter, she'd be nine years old.**

**1**

Ruva was running through the field with her dog Basil. Basil's golden fur was a large tangle of fur along with the deep green leaves from the summer trees. Ruva's own blond locks were hip length and as knotted as her dog's. A crown woven from wildflowers sat upon her head, with flyaway hairs whipping her face.

Ruva ran over to her parents. "Look Mama, Look Daddy!" She cried out.

She skidded to a stop in front of them. "Look what I made!" She said, pointing to the crown on her head. Ruva was bouncing with joy, in the way only a six-year-old could.

Her mother smiled knowingly. "What a pretty crown, Ruva, can you show me how you made it?"

"Yes Mama I can! Can I show Daddy as well?"

"Daddy is busy setting up the campsite." Said Ruva's mother. She saw Ruva's smile dampen. "How about we make one for Basil instead?" Ruva's uncontainable excitement returned.

"Yes yes yes! Let's go Mama!" Ruva burst off towards the centre of the field, with Basil close behind.

"Edward!" Ruva's mother called to her husband.

"Yes Jacinta?" Edward replied.

"I'm just going to play with Ruva for a while, can you set up the tents yourself tonight?"

"Only if you cook dinner!" Laughed Edward.

"Sure I'll cook dinner. I hope you enjoy your burnt buffet!" Jacinta was still laughing when she caught up with Ruva.

Ruva sat on a small rock as she taught her mother how to make flower crowns.

"… And then you keep doing that until it is big enough to go on your head!" Ruva finished her explanation triumphantly. Jacinta smiled good naturedly and finished her own crown. She held it up to Ruva.

"Is this big enough to fit my head?" She asked the child. Ruva examined it closely.

"Yes." She said decisively. "You can put that on your head now."

"Do you want me to show you a special trick?" Jacinta said, a secretive smile enveloping her face.

"Yes yes yes!"

"Watch this." Jacinta opened her palms so the crown had no shield against the wind. The crown slowly floated up on an anomalous draft of wind. It hovered through the air, rotating slightly as it went. It descended softly, landing on Jacinta's head. Ruva's jaw dropped, her eyes opened wide. Jacinta saw her daughter's bug eyed look, and laughed heartily.

"Did-did you do that Mama?" At Jacinta's nod, Ruva looked up to her mother with newfound awe.

"Can you teach me how to do that trick?" Ruva whispered. Her uncontainable excitement was nowhere to be seen; replaced with awe filled seriousness and poorly hidden hope. Jacinta was disappointed in having to burst Ruva's bubble. But she couldn't let her daughter live a life of lies. She had always tried to be open and honest with her daughter, now more than ever.

"Before… Before I tell you about that trick, I need to… I need to have some dinner with Daddy." Ruva was satisfied with her Mother's answer, and continued to make Basil's flower crown.

After experimenting many different ways to try and keep the crown on Basil, they gave up and were drawn back to the campsite by the enticing aroma of Edward's cooking. Ruva ran over to her father.

"Daddy that looks yummy!" She shouted. Edward chuckled.

"It's almost finished, but I need some extra help."

"I can help! I can help!"

"I don't know… Do you really want to help?"

"Yes! I really want to help!"

"I'm still not too sure…"

"You can be sure. You should always be sure with me. I can be a really sure-y person." Jacinta and Edward both laughed. Ruva started laughing too, although she had no idea what was so funny.

"Okay, I need you to find me some wood for the fire. Do you remember which wood to get?"

"Yes yes yes! You get the dry wood from birch and kindling from stickleback trees!"

"That's right! Off you go." Ruva ran towards the trees as if her life depended on it.

Jacinta started building the fire as Edward continued to cook the scrumptious smelling meal.

"I showed Ruva my gift today." Jacinta said. "She had the most adorable look on her face."

"Is that so?" Jacinta laughed at her husband's feinted disinterest.

"Yes, that is so. The first thing she asked me was to teach her how to do the trick."

"Aww, how sweet. Was she disappointed when you told her that it wasn't her gift?"

"I haven't told her yet, I thought we should have explained to her together over dinner."

"I can show her my gift then too." Edward continued cooking dinner as Jacinta prepared their fire. After a few minutes Ruva came back, her arms were filled with sticks, even Basil was carrying one!

Ruva piled her sticks a few metres away from the fire Jacinta was preparing. Jacinta grabbed some of the birch sticks and a handful of kindling. "Can I light the fire? I know how to do it! Please?" Ruva asked. Jacinta nodded. "Yay!" Ruva cried. She sat on her mother's lap and lit a match, she lit the woodpile Jacinta had stacked, and it quickly caught on. Soon their campsite was filled with light and warmth.

"Dinner's ready!" Edward called. He brought a large pot of soup over, serving them a cup each. Ruva sipped at her soup, Edward gave Jacinta a look from across the campfire.

"Sweetie, can we talk to you about something?" Jacinta asked.

Ruva swallowed a mouthful of soup, "Yeah, you can talk to me."

Jacinta was about to speak, but she didn't know what to say. She looked to Edward for support. Edward got the hint.

"Ruva, I am going to tell you a story." Edward had Ruva's attention now, Ruva loved stories. Basil came and snuggled against Ruva.

"Since the beginning of time, some humans have been gifted with special powers, these powers are referred to as gifts." Ruva looked awestruck. Edward turned to Jacinta. Then Jacinta started talking.

"Not everyone has a gift, but nearly all gifts are unique, each gifted person has their own special power. I am gifted, and so is Daddy. My gift is wind, I can create currents and updrafts, and I might even have the strength to lift you from the ground!" Ruva's jaw dropped, her eyes comically wide. She was silent for a minute, trying to comprehend what she had been told.

"Daddy, what's your gift?" She asked. Edward let out a nervous chuckle, his gift was more difficult to explain.

"My gift is the ability to see connections. I can see thousands of tiny ribbons coming out of you, each one connected to something important to you. These ribbons are different shapes and sizes, some of them stretch all over Medora. The closer you are to an important thing, the brighter the ribbon is." Ruva seemed even more stupefied.

"Can you tell me about my ribbons?" asked Ruva.

Edward chuckled, "I have a better idea." Edward activated his gift, he saw ribbons in all the colours imaginable stretching from everyone and everything. He narrowed down what he was looking for, all the ribbons disappeared except three. They were lime green, one of them was connected to Jacinta, the other to himself.

Edward looked at Jacinta's green ribbon, it was her gift. The ribbon swayed about like the wind itself. Edward looked at Ruva with his gift vision, she had a green ribbon as well, but it hung loosely, it hadn't yet found a connection. Edward smiled. That ribbon confirmed that Ruva would someday have a gift, but it hadn't yet decided itself.

Edward looked at his own green ribbon, there were multi-coloured strands woven within it, showing that he could see the ribbons that connected everything. He grabbed onto his ribbon, pulling it towards Ruva. Edward knew that when the ribbon was touching Ruva, she would temporarily be able to use his gift. He concentrated hard on the ribbon, making it thinner and less potent. She would become overwhelmed if she viewed all the ribbons at once. The thin ribbon would show her only the ribbons connected to herself.

Ruva watched her father grab at air and carry something over to her. "Close your eyes." He said. Ruva obeyed and felt Edward press his hand against her head. "Now open them." Ruva opened her eyes. She gasped out loud and saw thousands of rainbow coloured ribbons flowing from her, they pulsed with life, matching her own heartbeat. Two white strands were connected from her into her mother and father. Edward pointed out those strands.

"See these? They are ribbons of love, showing that we trust each other and love one another. If our love for one another is tested, these strands will turn silver if we succeed." Ruva could do nothing but gape. She noticed a white ribbon flowing from her into Basil as well. Edward pointed to a ribbon.

"See that yellow ribbon? That is connected to your lifelong friend, even though you haven't met them yet." Finally, Edward pointed to a purple strand.

"This strand is joint to your future beloved, you have been connected since you were born, and you will stay connected until you die. When you meet this person that the strand connects you to, it will turn a bright pink."

The ribbons around Ruva flickered then disappeared, all she could see now was the fire and her parents. Everything seemed dull compared to the ribbons that were connected to Ruva. Jacinta was waiting patiently for them to finish, it would've tired Edward too much to hold both Ruva and Jacinta to his gift. Ruva sat in silence as she admired both of her parent's gifts.


	2. Chapter 2

**If Alex and friends were mentioned in this chapter, they would be 13**

**2**

Ruva travelled with her family all over Northland. They had Bubbledoors, but they only used them occasionally. Edward and Jacinta believed that journeying makes the destination worth it more. Ruva travelled around with her parents, living a carefree and uneventful life until she was eight.

Ruva was exploring through the forests as she often did. That night they were camped in the Ezera forest, if Ruva climbed high enough she could just see Mount Paedris. Basil came with her, often hunting down squirrels and doing whatever pleased him. Ruva was following a set of animal tracks, trying to find out what animal was making them. Ruva continued following the tracks for ten minutes before deciding to take a rest. She leaned against a tree and fell asleep in the afternoon sun.

Ruva awoke to loud cracking footsteps. She stood up, still groggy from sleep. The footsteps drew nearer and nearer until a horse broke into the clearing. Ruva jolted, this was a wild horse! Her parents had warned her to be wary of them, they were unpredictable and very territorial. Ruva was in a very bad position. At first the horse didn't notice her, but soon its nostrils flared and it ran towards Ruva. Ruva backed herself against the trunk, she slid down, trying to make herself look innocent and weak. The horse stopped right in front of her, stepping on her bare ankle. Ruva cried out.

The horse exhaled angrily in front of Ruva. Ruva's eyes were shut tight from the pain, waves of agony rippled up her leg from where the horse had stepped on her. The horse leaned in, breathing into Ruva's face. It let out a loud whinny. Ruva froze. She heard the whinny, but she heard more than that. Ruva heard what the horse was telling her! Her mind seamlessly translated the horse's whinny into what it was trying to say.

"You standeth upon my ground!" The horse seemed to say. When Ruva didn't move, the horse whickered once more.

"Thou dost invade my territory." The horse's speech was dated, but Ruva guessed it was angry about her standing on its land. The horse could kill her if she didn't find a way out if its territory. But Ruva couldn't move far with her throbbing ankle. The first thing that the horse had said to her was that she was standing on the horse's ground, maybe if she wasn't on the ground, the horse wouldn't be angry.

"S-Sorry," she said, or tried to say. Her voice came out in the exact tone and pitch of a horse! The horse reared back, startled by Ruva's comprehension. Ruva was startled too, but she didn't waste her opportunity. She hopped up onto the nearest branch, more difficult with her injured foot. She couldn't put any pressure on it without getting a burst of fiery pain.

Ruva stood on the lowest branch. It was only a metre above the ground, but she hoped the horse would no longer anger at her standing on his ground.

"Is this–" Ruva's words came out in Medoran, not the language that the horse spoke and understood. She took a deep breath and tried again. "Is this better?" Her words came out as a soft nicker.

The horse approached her curiously. It examined her position and her inability to move from her ankle. "Yes, one's position doth satisfy my borders." Ruva didn't understand what the horse said, but she guessed that the horse was satisfied that she wasn't invading its territory. The horse grazed passively on the grass at the edge of the clearing. Ruva slowly lowered her injured leg towards the ground, but when she got close the horse gave a small and hostile sound. It translated to her ears as a general 'back off' warning.

Ruva brought her leg back up, she knew that the horse wouldn't let her touch the ground. Ruva looked up to the trees. Once you got high enough, the thick branches became interwoven, almost like a net. Ruva had walked up there before, but there was no way she'd be able to climb that high with an ankle that she suspected was broken. To worsen her situation even more, shadows crept across the clearing marking the end of the day.

Her parents would be looking for her soon, if they got too close to the wild horse, it might rage and ram into them. There was no way she could travel back on her own feet; it would be too painful for her ankle. The horse started to walk off, Ruva didn't want to be alone, not in a forest, not at night.

"Wait!" She called out to the horse. Her voice was not dissimilar to an urgent whinny. The horse turned back to her, waiting for her to respond.

"I don't want to be alone," she said, not knowing what else to say. The horse's eyes softened.

"I see now; you are none but a foal." The horse's words were kind, even pitying. "Tell me foal, where doth thy herd wait?" Ruva frowned at his confusing words. The horse called her a foal, probably because it recognised her as only a child, maybe herd referred to her family.

"My family uh, herd is that way," she said, pointing to the path she had first used to find the clearing. The horse did an equine gesture that translated in Ruva's mind as a nod.

"I hath noticed that your hoof is injured, doth thou require assistance to return to thy herd?" Ruva took a few seconds to translate his dated words, no little confused by the horse calling her foot a hoof.

"Yes, my uh, hoof is too injured to walk back. I would like your help to find my herd." The horse trotted up to Ruva.

"Mount my back foal, I shall return thee to thy herd." The horse lined itself up with the branch that Ruva was on, she slid tepidly onto the horse's back. Partly was so not to bother her inflamed foot more than necessary, but more so because she had never ridden a horse bareback before, let alone a wild one. Ruva shuffled her position so that she was more comfortable, she held the horse's mane tightly, unsure about whether the horse would break into a gallop.

The horse walked to the entry she had pointed to, its steps were remarkably smooth, nothing like the harsh, jarring run that Ruva had been expecting. Whenever the horse came to a turn in the path, it stopped, waiting for Ruva to guide it onwards. Ruva pointed the horse in the right direction, then they would continue onwards in silence. It wasn't a forbearing silence; it was a natural silence between two different species. After five minutes of walking, the horse spoke.

"It has been untold moonrises since my herd last met an Equine Speaker." Ruva thought on what he had said, moonrises probably signified days passing. She liked the name Equine Speaker, it made her sound special, unique. Sort of like she had a gift… That's it! Maybe being an Equine speaker was her gift! Ruva had always wanted a gift, ever since her parents had shown her their own gifts.

Speaking to horses was a pretty exciting gift, Ruva would be able to go to Akarnae! She has heard that there's stables there, she could talk to those horses! Trying to contain her excitement, she responded to the horse's statement.

"I didn't know I was an Equine Speaker before today!" Her excitement made her Equine Speech higher pitched than usual, making her sound like a squeaky horse.

The horse gave the equivalent of a chuckle at her excitement. "Tis a fine day to discover new things. What little foal, what is thine um, your name?" Ruva smiled, she was grateful that the horse made the effort to convert its speech to her own, making it easier for her to understand it.

"My name is Ruva," she said, her voice was gentle once again, no more than a wicker.

"Tis a pleasure to meet you, Ruva Equine Speaker. I am Moonrunner from Deep Herd."

Ruva smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Moonrunner from Deep Herd," she stroked the horse's back, smiling at how the dwindling light made her dappled coat more beautiful.

They sat in silence for another minute, content in each other's company. Ruva's ankle was now only throbbing, it was bothering her, but she knew that if she tried to move it would hurt more. Moonrunner stopped at the edge of a small clearing, Ruva could see her parent's tent, her parents pacing next to the fire, waiting for her to return.

"Doth this be thy herd?" Moonrunner asked. Both Ruva's mum and dad turned at the sound of the horse. They froze, recognising the horse as wild, but then they saw Ruva sitting atop its back.

"Yes, this is my herd," Ruva said. The horse continued walking towards the campfire, Edward and Jacinta didn't dare rush forwards, they had no idea how the horse would react. Moonrunner lowered herself so Ruva could climb down, she slid off its back, awkwardly standing on one foot. Her parents stepped forward, still tentative around Moonrunner.

Ruva hopped towards her parents, once they realised that the horse wasn't hostile to their presence they rushed forward to her. They enveloped her in a hug, whispering about how worried they were and how pleased they were that she was safe. Moonrunner thought her duty was done, she rose and turned back to the forest.

"Moonrunner, wait." Ruva called as she hopped away from her stunned parents, they let her go willingly when they heard her neigh like a horse. Moonrunner stopped, but Ruva could tell that she wouldn't wait for long.

"I must leave, Ruva Equine Speaker, for I am wild. I will not be tamed by any amount of violence or threats; I am my own master." Ruva smiled and nodded, she felt that it wouldn't be the last time she saw Moonrunner.

"May you always be free and wild," she said. Moonrunner turned around and started to gallop, maybe because of exhaustion, or maybe from something else, tears filled Ruva's eyes.

Moonrunner galloped away.


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

Shortly after Moonrunner left, Ruva was whisked off through a Bubbledoor to a hospital in Tryllin. Ruva had been placed in a wheelchair and wheeled through the endless wards of the accident and emergency sector. Once she was placed in a room, a doctor came to check on her. He asked her to explain what happened as he examined Ruva's foot. Ruva, not knowing any better, told him the entire truth. The doctor dropped his equipment when Ruva mentioned speaking to the horse. Once he realised Ruva had a gift, he mumbled about so many gifted kids getting into incidents.

Edward and Jacinta looked more and more stupefied as Ruva explained her story, but it seemed perfectly reasonable to her nine-year-old mind. The doctor got up and spoke to them, leaving Ruva to lay on the sterile bed. After coming to an agreement, the doctor walked over once more.

"We have to reset the position of your bone, so I'm going to give you some special medicine that will make you feel sleepy," The doctor handed Ruva a small orange vial, she drunk it willingly, and after a few seconds she started yawning. It took no longer than a minute for Ruva to fall asleep.

When she awoke it was dark outside, probably well past midnight. Ruva adjusted her injured foot. There was nothing but a dull ache, sort of like she had rolled it. It was a welcoming change. Just then her father walked in. He had large bags under his eyes, but other than that, he seemed fine.

"Ruva," he said. She could hear the relief in his voice.

"How are you feeling?" Edward asked as he sat down on a chair beside Ruva's bed.

"Better," Ruva replied, her voice was croaky and her mouth was dry. She reached for a cup of water that somebody had conveniently placed next to the lamp. She drunk the entire cup before turning back to Edward. He had an unfocused look in his eyes, the kind of look Ruva only saw when he was using his gift. He grabbed something invisible to Ruva's eyes, knowing what was coming, Ruva closed her own eyes.

She felt her father's hand against her forehead, Ruva opened her eyes. The rainbow ribbons stretched from her to the thousands of things she was connected to. Edward pointed out a single lime green ribbon.

"Look Ruva, that's your gift," Ruva bubbled with joy, joy that she could somehow see flowing through all of her connections. She examined her gift ribbon closer. At the base, there was a deep green horse threaded within the ribbons. Ruva smiled, Moonrunner had left her mark on her.

Thinking of Moonrunner drew Ruva to a white ribbon, she touched it and instantly felt the presence of the horse. A white bond had been formed between them, a bond of love. Edward noticed it too, he reached forward to touch it as well.

"I thought something had changed…" Her father must've sensed a change in her ribbons, and used his gift to investigate. Ruva was used to her father using his gift, but he thought it as rude to examine somebody's ribbons without asking. Whenever he used his gift on Jacinta or Ruva, he shared his perception with them, so they could examine their ribbons with him.

Ruva still had trouble understanding what all the millions of shades meant, but she could discern the general meaning of most of them.

Ruva blinked and the ribbons disappeared. Her father pulled away, obviously exhausted from the effort of using his gift as well as sharing it with Ruva.

"I hope your foot is feeling better," said Edward. Ruva nodded.

"It will be fully healed if you give it another night's rest,"

Ruva adjusted her pillow before lying down. Before she fell asleep she asked her father a question.

"When can we go back?" Edward smiled.

"Soon my dear, soon," Ruva closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.

The following morning, a nurse gave Ruva a quick check up to make sure everything had healed before they could return to their campsite and gypsy lifestyle. The nurse gave them the all clear, so they left early that morning. Ruva felt an overwhelming sense of relief when she stepped back through the Bubbledoor, she hadn't realised how boxed in she had felt in the bustling city. Now she was back in nature, free to do whatever she wanted.

Ruva looked to the campsite, the tents were soggy and the fire long since dead. It had only been two days since they left, but they had left in such a rush that some of their gear was likely to be ruined. Basil came running over, barking joyfully. Ruva jumped when she understood the words.

"You've returned! I missed you so much!" Basil ran over to Ruva. "I smelled that you were injured, but I was too far away to help you! The horse from Deep Herd protected Ruva, but now I can!"

Ruva was shocked to see her gift could help her communicate not just to horses, but to Basil as well. Then again, she couldn't help smiling at Basil's uplifting words.

"Look how happy Basil is to see you," said Jacinta. Basil wagged his tail.

"It's good to see you too, Basil," said Ruva. Her words came out in the exact tone and pitch of a dog's bark, startling Basil, her parents and Ruva herself. Basil stopped wagging his tail and he tilted his head. He barked once, the canine equivalent of a gasp.

"Did you just speak to–to Basil?" Jacinta asked, her husband had explained that Ruva's newly awoken gift allowed her to speak to horses, but speaking to other animals was a whole other matter!

"I think I did…" she said. When Ruva looked to her father, who was being very silent throughout the exchange, he had the common unfocused look meaning he was using his gift. After a few seconds of silence, he blinked. His gaze was focused now, and he walked over to Ruva smiling.

"Ruva, your gift isn't just speaking to horses, you can understand any animal!"

Ruva gasped, a wide smile covered her face. Imagine speaking to all the animals in the world! Ruva forgot all about the people around her, she listened to the birds in the trees. Now that she was paying attention, she could hear all sorts of conversations chittered between different birds. She heard little titbits of information like where to find the best nuts, when to roost for the night, areas to avoid and so on. The birds were full of gossip, sort of like people.

A tap on the shoulder roused Ruva's attention, her mother was there.

"We're just going to fix up the campsite, why don't you go for a wander, maybe spend some time with Basil," Ruva knew what Jacinta was hinting at, and she was grateful for the opportunity to test her gift.

"Come on Basil!" She called. Ruva spoke Medoran, but Basil still understood the call. Basil walked beside Ruva, following her into the forest until they came to a spring. It was there that Ruva sat on a rock and dangled her feet into the water. After a few moments of silence Basil barked. The bark he used had many meanings, and Ruva struggled to interpret the correct one.

"I want to know if you truly spoke in canine speech, or if it was all in my mind," said Basil. Now that he wasn't excited, his speech seemed more intelligent. Ruva willed her gift to activate.

"Yes, I did speak in canine speech, it is my gift," Basil gasped once more.

"So it wasn't my imaginings," he muttered. Then he looked up and addressed Ruva. "How long have you known this gifting?"

"Only since I saw Moonrunner," Ruva responded.

"How did the equine address you?" Basil asked. Ruva was confused for a second before she realised that Moonrunner had called Ruva a different name.

"I think she called me Ruva Equine Speaker," Basil gave a canine nod.

"But why does it matter what she called me?" Ruva asked.

"It's a tradition known amongst all beasts, as soon as our young are old enough to speak we name them. Most humans have never spoken to animals, so we do not name them,"

Ruva nodded, realising how different the animal world was to her own.

"What were you named?"

"I was taken from my birth parents before I could speak. Humans named me, so I am known as Basil Human Walker," _Animal traditions are so different,_ thought Ruva.

"Enough talking, I would like to see the limitations of your gift," said Basil. Ruva nodded and stood. She brushed the dirt off her shorts and pushed her hair behind her ears.

"Let's run,"


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

Ruva continued wandering with Basil all day. She had conversations with birds, discussions with rabbits and even a quick banter with a fox. Ruva was confused at first when she met the animals, she had expected the fox to be sly, and the rabbits sweet and easy to startle. But soon she realised that animals didn't fit in with human stereotypes. Ruva learnt different things from each encounter. Birds were talkative and happy to share information, rabbits were philosophical; always deep in thought, and the fox she met was headstrong and full of pride.

Basil stayed by her side the entire time, he couldn't understand the bird or the rabbit, but he had a slight understanding of the fox. Ruva could understand them all perfectly, she mimicked their sounds without effort. But after each encounter, Ruva felt increasingly tired. It wasn't noticeable at first, but soon she was yawning and her eyes drooping. Her tongue started to go limp too, she found it harder and harder to speak. After meeting the fox, Basil declared it was time to go home.

Ruva stumbled and tripped on the journey back to the campsite, she hadn't been this tired since – since ever! The sun lowered as they travelled, and it had just set when Ruva saw the campsite. Not even this could excite her, Basil was supporting almost her full weight as she yawned once more. They continued forward, until Ruva fell asleep fully. Basil barked, he was trying to get the attention of Jacinta and Edward.

They looked up, trying to locate the sound of the noise. The light from their campfire was throwing flickering shadows on their faces, but the light didn't go much further than their tents. Basil barked twice more, he was in the shadows where it was difficult to see. Jacinta finally spotted him. She came walking over. She saw Ruva slumped over Basil. She picked up Ruva and carried the sleeping child. Basil trotted behind Ruva, not wanting her out of his sight. Jacinta brought Ruva into the tent, she put her on her bed and tucked her in.

"Sweet dreams,"

…

Ruva woke up late the next morning. She was tired and lethargic, her tent had become stuffy in the late spring sunlight. She crawled out and blinked profusely, everything outside was bright and glary. She slowly walked across the campsite, over to where her mother was sitting. She was underneath an oak tree, painting another work of art on her easel. When Jacinta saw Ruva she stopped painting, she let go of her brush and a draft of wind picked it up and moved back onto her stand.

Jacinta walked over and gave Ruva a squeeze on the shoulder.

"Are you feeling better now?" She asked. Ruva nodded slowly. She was more awake now, but the stifling heat in the air was energy sapping.

"We should've explained it to you…" Jacinta mumbled. Ruva furrowed her brow, what was she talking about?

"Explained what?" Ruva asked, her voice sounded as sleepy as she felt.

"When you use your gift it depletes your energy, using too much too quickly can make you exhausted, symptoms vary from person to person. When I was at Akarnae, my friend Astrid overused her gift often. She only had mild reactions, but it damaged her gift. That's why we have to stay within our limits," she explained.

Ruva thought over the conversations she'd had the previous day.

"I only met three animals and that was enough to exhaust me. How do I know when I've done too much? Will I only be able to speak with three animals at a time? How come I didn't get tired when speaking with Moonrunner?" Ruva asked. Her gift was wonderful, but it was also very confusing.

Jacinta laughed good naturedly. "So many questions! Unfortunately, I don't have the answers you're looking for. But I do know who does; when you turn thirteen, you get to go to Akarnae. They'll teach you to use your gift there. They'll help you get stronger, strong enough to talk to hundreds of animals!" Jacinta smiled as she remembered her own days at Akarnae.

Ruva heard a whinny in the distance, she perked up and turned to the direction of the noise. Moonrunner burst through the thick greenery, her dappled grey coat shining in the late morning sun. Ruva broke into a run, she charged straight into Moonrunner's large flank.

"Moonrunner!" She cried. Moonrunner whinnied in response.

"Greetings Ruva Equine Speaker, I am glad to see thy hoof has healed," Moonrunner examined Ruva's bare foot. Ruva laughed as the horse's breath tickled her foot.

Jacinta came cautiously over. She was still wary of the horse, despite hearing from Ruva about Moonrunner.

"Mum and Dad took me to a hospital in Tryllin, the doctor healed my ankle," Ruva explained. The horse seemed surprised at Ruva's statement, Ruva realised that there wouldn't be any medicines in the animal world.

Jacinta tapped Ruva on the shoulder.

"Is this the horse that you rode? Star Runner?" Ruva laughed at her mother's mistake.

"This is the horse I was on, but her name is Moonrunner, not Star Runner!"

Moonrunner whickered, drawing Ruva's attention.

"I was curious to see if thou would cometh for a gallop with me. You could sit upon my back," The idea seemed wonderful to Ruva but she had to check with Jacinta.

"Mum, Moonrunner just asked if I wanted to go for a ride with her. Can I go?"

"I don't know; should give your foot more rest?"

"Please," she said. "I promise I won't go far, or even run on my foot!"

"What if you fall off?"

"We'll only ride slowly, so I won't fall off!"

"Okay, but I want you nearby the entire time, and come back as soon as I call,"

"I will Mum! Thank you!"

Ruva turned to Moonrunner.

"Mum said I can ride with you, but only if you stay nearby and don't ride too fast,"

Moonrunner gave an equine nod. "I will stay near thy herd for the duration of our ride. Climb upon my back Ruva, we shall commence our ride," Ruva was eager to get on the horse, but she had no idea how to climb a horse that was almost twice the size of herself.

"I-um, how do I get on your back?" Ruva asked.

"Find a rock and use it to mount me," Ruva looked around. There was a conveniently placed rock at the edge of the clearing. Ruva led Moonrunner over to it and used it to mount the large horse. Once she was on Moonrunner's back, she adjusted herself so that she was comfortable.

Ruva felt Moonrunner's muscles tense up in anticipation. All of a sudden she was nervous, she had never ridden a horse before! How would she stay on? What could she hold onto?

"Uh, Moonrunner?" Moonrunner looked to her. "I've – never ridden a horse before… What should I do?" Moonrunner gave an equine chuckle.

"Fear not, for I shall teach my ways to you. Grasp thine hands upon my mane, and press thine legs against my flank," Ruva followed her instructions and gripped on tight. She felt a flutter of nerves in her stomach. She felt Moonrunner's muscles tense. She broke into a canter, Ruva let out a squeal.

She held onto Moonrunner's mane so hard that her knuckles turned white. She almost squeezed her eyes shut, but she had to admit that it was exhilarating. Once she got over her initial shock, she loved the thrill of riding through the forest. The wind was blowing through her hair, dappled sunlight fell through the canopy, birds and other small foragers scampered out of there way as they ran past. Ruva adjusted her position, she lowered her head so it was almost touching Moonrunner's mane. Hours could've passed as Ruva rode Moonrunner, she forgot about everything else except for the woods around them.

A piercing call broke through her bliss.

"Ruva!"

"We must return to thine herd. Hold on tighter, I shall break into a gallop!" Ruva nodded and tightened her grip. Moonrunner started to gallop. The speed was incredible, and Ruva let out a whoop of joy. Then Ruva saw a log blocking their path, but before she could panic, Moonrunner gave a giant leap, clearing the log in seconds. Ruva couldn't help but cheer again.

Moonrunner began to slow down, Ruva saw they'd reached the campsite. Her father was cooking some lunch – or possibly dinner – while her mother was completing her painting. Moonrunner came to a stop in front of the tents. Ruva tried to climb down, belatedly she realised how stiff she was. Ruva all but fell from the horse, landing on top of her tent. After the exciting ride she had, all she could do was laugh. Her concerned parents checked that she wasn't hurt.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she told them. "But that ride was so much fun!" Edward chuckled at her daughter's enthusiasm. He helped haul her up as she stumbled on her stiff legs.

"It must have been fun, six whole hours of fun," Ruva's eyes widened as she realised how badly she had lost track of time.

"Don't worry, you'll make up for it by helping me make dinner," Ruva nodded and hobbled over to the pot that was steaming by the fire.

"Bye Moonrunner!" Ruva called.

"I shall return on the morn, then we shall ride again!" Moonrunner whinnied before galloping away. Ruva smiled; tomorrow was going to be fun.


	5. Chapter 5

**5**

Ruva spent the next week riding with Moonrunner. They explored further and further, each time finding new places. Ruva always tried to return by lunchtime, not like their first day. When she came back from her ride, Basil would always stand by Ruva. They'd go hunting for frogs, collecting mushrooms and climbing trees. Ruva would speak with any animals that she met, but she was now careful not to exhaust herself.

She became better at riding too; now she could mount and dismount without a block, and she was also experimenting some tricks. She would try to stand up while Moonrunner trotted, but she would always end up falling off. She never got seriously injured, she would laugh off her bruises and scratches. Each night she would sit around the fire with her parents and talk of her daily adventures. Ruva went to bed each night feeling fully content. Her life was perfect.

Ruva was sitting with her parents around the fire. She was telling them of the small waterfall she'd found that day with Basil snuggled beside her. Her parents listened as she animatedly described her discovery.

"-and then, we jumped over this little rock ledge landing straight in the water!" Ruva took a bight from her mushroom sauté – mushrooms that she'd collected.

"Wow, that sounds so interesting, was the water nice?"

"Yeah! It was deep enough to swim in!" Her parents could tell. Ruva had come back from her latest expedition soaking wet.

Basil suddenly jumped up, he tensed up and growled at the forest.

"What is it Basil?" Ruva asked.

Basil's hackles were raised. "Something comes,"

The whole forest was silent, unnaturally silent. Something was looming in the dark, something deadly.

Something hideous jumped out from the trees. It was black and larger than a horse. It gave a bellowing roar, a roar that roughly translated to Ruva's ears as "PREY!" The thing was galloping towards them, Ruva did the only thing she could think of.

She jumped in front of her parents, and yelled as loud as she could.

"STOP!" Her voice came out as a terrifying growl, a growl that almost exhausted her. The shocked beast came to a stop. Now that it was closer Ruva could see its blood red eyes.

"Not prey! Harmless! No kill!" Ruva called. It was hard to speak the beast's language; her tongue was already becoming limp.

"Not prey? Where prey?" The beast gave a frightening snarl. Its speech was as broken as Ruva's attempts; if she was anywhere else she would wonder if it was because the animal wasn't intelligent, or if she was getting too tired to hear it properly.

"Prey gone. Prey run," Ruva said. She was struggling not to close her eyes; it was so difficult to speak to the beast.

"I wait. Wait for prey," The beast sat on the edge of their clearing. Ruva almost collapsed on top of her parents. They caught her, but they were both trembling with fear.

"W-What did you say to it?" Her father whispered.

"I-I told it n-no kill," Ruva whispered. She was struggling to stay awake until an ice cold breeze hit her head. She knew it was her mother's work, but it still surprised her all the same.

"What's it doing there?" Jacinta asked. She looked nervously to the great hulking shadow on the edge of the clearing.

"Waiting for prey," Ruva whispered. She pinched herself to make her pay attention.

"I convinced it that we weren't what it was hunting, and now it's waiting for more prey," Ruva's mum turned a deathly white.

Jacinta whispered urgently to Edward. "There's a Hyroa over there! What are we supposed to do?"

Edward was silent as he thought. Eventually he spoke. "We can't go into the forest, or it might mistake us for prey; we can't ask Ruva to speak to it, you saw how exhausted it made her! And we can't use a Bubbledoor, not without it provoking the Hyroa. Like it or not, I think – I think we're stuck here,"

Jacinta shuddered, hating the idea of sleeping while a carnivorous beast was hunting for prey. She couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to Ruva. Jacinta looked down to Ruva who had fallen asleep on her lap. Sweet innocent Ruva, she didn't deserve this. She had been so brave, she jumped without thought in front of the Hyroa. Jacinta would do anything to protect her child.

"I know she's not safe out here, but I can't bring myself to separate from her," They both knew that Ruva would be safer in the tent – as much as they tried to deny it.

"I would stay in the tent with her, but I don't want you to be alone either," Jacinta gave her husband a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Why do I have to make this choice?"

Edward suddenly pulled back. "I have a better idea,"

Edward explained what he was going to do in as much detail as he could. He had never tried it before, but there was a first time for everything. When he finished explaining, Jacinta seemed very confident that it would work. After getting one final nod from his wife, Edward put his plan into action.

Activating his gift, he searched for the lime green strand that was his gift itself. Once he found it, he grabbed onto it and brought it over to Ruva. Instead of pressing it against her forehead, he looped it around her wrist and knotted it. When he let go, the ribbon stayed attached to Ruva. Edward gave a sigh of relief. He let go of his gift, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the dark.

"Did it work?" Jacinta asked. Edward closed his eyes, he could feel his gift, ready to activate whenever necessary. But beyond his gift he could feel something else; it was bright and buoyant, Edward knew that this new thing was Ruva. He had created a link between his daughter and himself, using his gift as the rope. It would exhaust him to keep it active permanently, but temporarily it could be used to monitor her from a distance.

"It worked," Edward now knew that he'd be able to sense if Ruva woke. This sense would also allow him to know if she was injured. Jacinta gave a sigh of relief, she felt reassured knowing that Edward would sense if Ruva was anywhere near danger. Jacinta snuggled up with her husband. Tonight was going to be a long night.

…

Ruva woke up to a loud roar. Her mind was fuzzy as she tried to remember how she had gotten into bed. In her sleep induced fogginess, she realised something felt different. The feeling started at her wrist, it seemed to travel up her arm, ending up in the place her gift resided. She sat up with a start when she heard another bellow. It was the bellow of a badly injured creature, one that was dying.

Adrenaline flooded through Ruva's veins. Suddenly she wasn't seeing only her tent, she was seeing hundreds of ribbons flowing from her. She was using her father's gift! But where was her father? Memories of the night came flooding back in, the Hyroa had attacked them, but Ruva had managed to calm it. Was the injured bellow coming from the beast?

Ruva crawled to the front of her tent, it was still dark outside, and the multitude of ribbons were distracting her. She tried to shove them from her mind, keep her attention away from the multitude of strands. They all disappeared from Ruva's mind as she peeked through the flap.

She could see the Hyroa slumped not metres away. It was barely breathing, Ruva knew it wouldn't survive. The Hyroa gave out one last roar. It was a desperate roar, a warning to every creature nearby.

"Run! Hide! Golden One come!" Ruva heard the unmistakeable sound of a blade going into flesh. The light faded from the Hyroa's eyes, Ruva knew it had been slain. But what had slain it?

An enchanting man walked from the far side of the Hyroa, he was holding a silver sword that curved in regular intervals. The man had golden eyes, eyes that burned with such hatred Ruva had never seen before. Somehow her father's gift was triggered, and she saw the man's ribbons. Ruva shuddered at what she saw, millions of red ribbons stretched from him into unmeasurable places. Red ribbons were ribbons of hate, unstable and deadly. Ruva gulped as she realised that one of the man's red ribbons led to her.

Who was this man who hated millions? With golden eyes? Could the 'Golden One' that the Hyroa warned of be this man? Ruva was scared now. The man walked purposefully towards their campfire. Ruva looked closely and saw her terrified parents. The Golden One walked towards them, his silver blade drawn and ready. Why weren't they running? The Golden One suddenly blurred forward, he moved so fast Ruva could barely see him. Ruva saw The Golden One place his blade against Jacinta's neck. Slowly, oh so slowly, he pressed the blade further in. Blood trickled down her Mother's neck. Ruva could do nothing but watch in stunned horror.

Edward rushed forward, desperate to save his wife.

"No!" He cried. In the space of one second, The Golden One pressed his sword in far enough to kill Jacinta before throwing it at Edward.

They slumped down together, dying in each other's arms.

That was the last thing Ruva remembered before falling unconscious.


	6. Chapter 6

Ruva woke up with an unbearable grief hanging over her. She couldn't summon the energy to get out of bed, she felt like a heavy weight had been dropped on her chest. She wondered why the birds still sang. How could they sing through all of this?

Her parents were dead.

Gone.

_Forever._

Ruva burst into tears once again. She cried until she couldn't cry anymore. She hiccupped while staring in the corner. Ruva remained oblivious to everything around her. She felt like she was drowning, unable to get a breath of air. A whinny broke through her sadness. She recognised the horse as Moonrunner, but she was still unable to get up. Moonrunner pushed her head into the tent.

"Greetings Ruva Equine Speaker, what has happened?" Moonrunner's words were soft and gentle. Ruva burst into tears once more, unable to explain.

"I see it now, thine herd has befallen tragedy, and thou art all that remains," Ruva nodded, not willing to give any more detail.

"Rise Ruva, nothing waits for thou here except sadness," Ruva reluctantly rose and crawled out of the tent. Before she could stop herself she turned to the campfire; there was nothing there, not a single sign of her parents.

She searched the ground, it was as if it never happened. She was about to turn around when something shiny caught her eye. Ruva saw a small metal necklace lying on the ground, she ran over to it and gasped in delight. It was her mother's most prized necklace. Tears filled Ruva's eyes as she examined the necklace, it was made from Myrox. It was a short chain necklace with a shining horse charm, Ruva had loved looking at that necklace, the horse was so animate it seemed to run when it moved.

"Art thou ready to depart?" Moonrunner asked.

Ruva nodded as she put on her mother's necklace. She would never see her parents again, but they would always be a part of her. She mounted Moonrunner, and they rode into the forest.

They rode for hours, very quickly they moved past the places that Ruva was familiar with, galloping through unchartered territory. Moonrunner seemed to know where she was going, but all Ruva knew was that they were heading east. When they stopped to drink water, Ruva asked where they were headed. The horse told her only that they were going to the nearest human settlement. Ruva wondered if it might be the small town Woodhaven. She'd been there a few times with her parents, each time they would spoil her with treats and take to On The House. She had been delighted to discover that the entire establishment was on the roof of a house, her parents had treated her to a glass of Dillyberry juice.

Tears filled Ruva's eyes as she reminisced the time with her parents. She gave a wobbly smile and tried to stay in her happy place. It didn't work. Whenever Ruva was silent, she heard nothing except the sound of a sword digging into flesh. She heard the last roar of the Hyroa. She heard her father's desperate cry as he leaped towards his wife. She saw the hate in The Golden One's eyes.

Ruva made as much noise as possible when mounting Moonrunner. She was grateful for the long ride they had ahead of them, there would be lots to distract her from last night's events. Moonrunner started off at a gallop once more, heading eastward to their unknown location. They rode until sunset, when they finally arrived.

Moonrunner stood on the edge of a large field. On the left was a large lake with a mountain visible in the distance, Ruva was pretty sure it was Mount Paedris. On the right she could see the settlement. There was a large group of buildings, some of them almost medieval, while others were futuristic and modern. The mismatched buildings made Ruva feel more at ease, she had never felt comfortable with uniform and orderly things. Moonrunner started at a trot towards the settlement, Ruva was too upset to be curious, but all the people they encountered looked at her strangely. Moonrunner moved towards the centre building, a great medieval tower spanning more than five floors. When she stopped, Ruva hesitated, what should she do now?

A crowd of people gathered around them, but they kept a reasonable distance away from them too. Whenever one got too close, Moonrunner would walk threateningly towards them until they backed off. Ruva could hear whispers going through the small crowd, things like 'where's Marselle?' or 'someone get Tayla'

Nobody spoke to her directly, until someone did.

There was a tall, muscular boy who seemed younger than most of the others. He stepped forward and for some reason, Moonrunner didn't make any move.

"Hi, I'm Kaiden. I know you're unsure about what you're supposed to be doing, but I know somebody who can help you. His name is Marselle and he's up there," Kaiden pointed to the tower behind him. "You can't ride your horse up all of those stairs, so you'll have to get down," Since Ruva didn't know what else to do, she dismounted. She stumbled on her feet, a whole day of riding had made her stiff.

Kaiden walked over to her, oblivious of the wild horse that could trample him. Surprisingly, Moonrunner didn't react. Kaiden reached to help Ruva up, but the moment they touched, they both froze. There was something different about him, Ruva could tell. Kaiden seemed shocked, he stared at Ruva as if she were another species. Ruva was curious, and suddenly she felt something activate. All of a sudden she could see ribbons all around her, connected to the people all around her. Somehow she was using her father's gift! But how? Her dad was dead!

Ruva started crying once more, it didn't matter that she was surrounded by strangers, or a muddied mess that rode in on a wild horse. All she could think about was her parents. She didn't even notice Kaiden scooping her up and carrying her up the stairs. She sniffed as Kaiden carried her higher and higher, the stone walls seemed harsh and jarring to Ruva. Kaiden stopped outside a door, it was identical to all the others, but somehow it seemed more intimidating. Kaiden knocked on the door as he put Ruva down, leaving her to stand nervously at his side. The door opened to a middle aged man with grey twinkling eyes.

"Ah Kaiden, I was expecting you tonight. Please come in," Kaiden walked, leaving Ruva standing at the door.

"And you must be Ruva, come inside. You look like you haven't eaten all day, I can get you a warm drink, if you want," Ruva was about to shake her head, when her stomach grumbled. The man, most likely Marselle, gave an easy laugh. Ruva couldn't help but trust him, so she stepped inside.

Inside was an office, there was a boardroom table in the centre, with smaller tables and shelves lining the walls. On either side was a door, Marselle led them to the door on the left. There was a small and cosy room, a large couch sat along the length of each wall, with a small coffee table in the centre. A desk sat against the far wall, making the room slightly cramped, just the way Ruva liked it.

Ruva sat awkwardly on the edge of her seat, she was suddenly aware of how much sweat and grime she was covered in from her ride. Kaiden sat on the couch opposite her. Marselle pushed a warm drink into Ruva's hands, she drunk willingly, the warm liquid filled her with heat. Marselle sat next to Kaiden.

"Now Ruva, I knew that you were coming here today, and that I need to know about your gift. May I place my hand on your forehead?" Ruva nodded, she was unsure why the man would want to do such a thing, but she guessed he was gifted. Ruva was starting to suspect that Moonrunner had brought her to Akarnae, the people she saw outside didn't look any older than eighteen. The buildings outside also matched her parent's descriptions of the academy.

Ruva was drawn from her thoughts when she felt Marselle press his hand against her forehead. The action reminded Ruva of her dad and his gift. She started crying once more, unaware of the room and its occupants. All she could see was her dad cooking dinner, her dad sharing his gift, her dad listening to her stories.

Her dad defending her from the Hyroa,

Her dad leaping in front of the blade,

Her dad… Dying.

Ruva continued sobbing, she didn't the headmaster's gasp when he touched her, she didn't hear Kaiden trying to soothe her. They seemed miles away, not close enough to do anything.

Suddenly, Ruva was warm. She was surrounded by something, something that squeezed her and made her relax. She opened her eyes to see Kaiden hugging her, peace flooded her senses, filling her with ease. He whispered five words into her ear,

"I lost my parents too."

Ruva let out a squeak. How had he known that? Was his gift mind reading? Did he read Ruva's mind? Ruva didn't know what to think, but she was grateful for the support he gave her. Marselle cleared his throat, Kaiden pulled back and looked to him. The normally calm headmaster seemed flustered, and his eyes kept darting towards Ruva.

"Thank you Kaiden, for bringing Ruva to me. You can go to the dorms now, it's almost first year's curfew. If you see your sister, could you tell her to come up?"

Kaiden nodded, Ruva noticed he had tears in his eyes. But before she could say anything he left, clicking the door shut behind him. The headmaster grabbed a smoky, shining ball and typed something onto keys invisible to Ruva's eyes. Once he had finished he turned to Ruva.

"Thank you for waiting. Now that we're alone, I want you to answer me something;

How did you end up with two gifts?"


	7. Chapter 7

Ruva froze and stared at Marselle. She didn't have two gifts! That was impossible! Her gift was animal speaking, not anything else! Ruva shook her head, signifying that she didn't believe him. She didn't want to speak yet, not after what happened to her parents. Headmaster Marselle sighed, he wanted an answer from Ruva, but she didn't seem to know about her second gift.

"You have two gifts, Ruva. The first, the one you predominantly use, is animal speaking. The second, is one you have only used a few times. It is a unique gift; one I haven't seen since my early days of teaching. You can see connections, colourful ribbons flying through the air, linking anything to everything,"

Marselle continued talking, but Ruva didn't hear a word of it. He was talking about her dad's gift! How could she have her dad's gift? He had often shared it with Ruva, but only for short amounts of time. Her dad wasn't even here! How could he share his gift when he was – when he was _dead_?

Tears trickled down Ruva's face for what must be the hundredth time that day. She was amazed that she still had tears after all the crying she'd done today.

The headmaster hadn't noticed Ruva's tears, and he continued talking.

"- Edward Springden, I believe his name was. He kept to himself mostly, but he was a wonderful kid," Ruva couldn't breathe, all she could see was her dad. She collapsed on the floor, all she could hear was her dad's laugh. She saw Marselle reaching towards her when the world went black.

…

Ruva woke up slowly. She was lying on something soft, a couch most likely. She could hear voices arguing in the background, she listened to their conversation, not wanting to open her eyes.

"She can't have two gifts! It's not biologically possible!" A woman exclaimed.

"Disagreeing won't help. She has two gifts, nothing you can say will change that," A man replied.

"He's right, the girl has two gifts," chimed in a second man. All three of them were silent as they waited for something.

"She's awake," A new voice said.

Ruva tingled all over, even though she had her eyes closed, she knew they were all looking at her. Knowing it was pointless to pretend to sleep, she sat up and opened her eyes. She was still in the same room as before, but instead of the headmaster and herself, four other people had joined them. Headmaster Marselle was sitting at his desk, pinching the bridge of his nose. A tall, blond man wearing a hooded cloak was leaning against the wall. He had his arms crossed, possibly to hide something hidden in his hands.

The third person was wearing the brightest, multi-coloured coat Ruva had ever seen. The woman was fuming about something, and kept glaring in the cloaked man's direction. Ruva guessed she was the woman she heard arguing.

The fourth person was seated on the couch opposite her. She was an older student, probably a fifth year or an apprentice. The most noticeable thing about the student was their bright blue eyes, which looked very similar to Kaiden's.

The final person was dressed in a lab coat. He had a badge that read 'Doctor Fletcher Montgomery'

Everyone was silent as they waited for Ruva to say something. She shrank back from the attention, not wanting to speak. She stared at the floor, silently begging any of them to take the attention away from her.

"She hasn't spoken a word to anyone since arriving," said Marselle.

"I can't pick up much from her. She's one of those kids who naturally have scattered thoughts," said the woman in the rainbow lab coat.

"What about you, Hunter?"

"She's barely used her second gift, – that much I can tell – she has been riding for hours and she feels numb from grief,"

"Jeera?"

"She's in shock from an event… Something that only happened a few days ago. She had to use one of her gifts in this event… It exhausted her, she couldn't speak much afterwards,"

"Anything to add, Fletcher?"

"From what we can piece together, it sounds like she has PTSD. Overusing a gift can sometimes take weeks to recover from, there's no medication that'll help that. As to her second gift, she can tell us about it when her voice returns,"

"She can't stay here for a week! She's only a child! Her family could be looking for her as we speak!"

Ruva took a gasp of air. This was all too much. These strangers trying to piece together Ruva's life overwhelmed her. The room was stifling and crowded, all Ruva wanted was to get outside. She had to get away from these stifling people who pretended she wasn't there. Suddenly the doctor, Fletcher, was kneeling in front of her.

"Are you okay?"

All Ruva could do was give the slightest shake of her head. She couldn't handle a moment more in the stifling room with the stifling grown-ups.

Ruva ran.

She ran to the door, dodging Fletcher's attempt to grab her.

She ran down the tower stairs, blinded by her tears.

She ran out of the tower, going straight towards the trees.

A whinny stopped her in her tracks. Ruva would recognise that whinny anywhere, it was Moonrunner.

"Ruva Equine Speaker! Thou must not desert thy new herd!"

"I don't want to be there! Everything is so suffocating, the walls close in around you making you feel trapped! Why can't I be with you? We could ride every day, sleeping in a new place every night!"

Moonrunner gave an equine chuckle. "The woods are no place for a foal, thou belong with thy herd,"

"I don't want them to be my herd! Please let me go with you,"

Moonrunner shook her head. "Thou doth not belong with me, no amount of pleading will change that. I am sorry to depart so swiftly, but I must run,"

"No, I don't want you to leave. Stay here with me, please?" Ruva pleaded.

"I am sorry, but I must leave. Might I suggest thou spend the night with the other equines? Thou would enjoy their company more than anyone else,"

"Other equines?"

"I scented their presence earlier, they are located in the outermost building," Ruva nodded, then she realised Moonrunner meant to return to the forests.

"Will I ever see you again?"

"Even I do not know what the future may bring, but I hope our paths cross once more,"

"Goodbye Moonrunner of Deep Herd,"

Goodbye Ruva Equine Speaker," Moonrunner turned to face the forest, the moon was reflecting off her dappled grey coat, giving it a silvery and ethereal glow.

The horse ran in the moonlight.

After watching Moonrunner leave, Ruva stumbled through the dark towards the building where the horses were located. As she drew closer, she realised it was a stable. Ruva was delighted to find that this was the Akarnae stable she had asked so much about. She heard a horse wicker from within, and she became even more excited. She ran towards the stable, forgetting that she could barely see the ground in front of her.

She entered the stable and went into the nearest stall. She was delighted to see a deep black stallion was within. She walked in slowly and put her hand against the horse's soft nose. When she thought the horse was comfortable with her presence, she tentatively spoke.

"Hello?" The horse jolted back when it heard her horse-like noise. Ruva stepped back, not wanting to spook it any more than necessary.

"How – How can this be?" the horse was frozen, it examined Ruva as if she were some sort of alien.

"I am Ruva Equine Speaker. I have a gift that allows me to speak to all animals,"

"Oh, um – I am Eclipse Human Dweller. I am pleased to meet you," Ruva began to grow very tired, she knew she had reached the limits of her gift.

"Can I sleep her tonight? I'm just… so tired," Ruva yawned in the middle of her sentence. Monarch gave an equine chuckle.

"You are welcome to sleep here. I shall guard you from all that threatens you," Ruva was already asleep in the straw.

…

"Wake Ruva. You must rise," Ruva blinked groggily and sat up.

"Good morning Eclipse Human Dweller,"

"Good morning Ruva Equine Speaker, please get up. My rider is coming," Ruva's eyes widened and she quickly scrambled into the corner. She tried to bury herself in the straw when she heard boots thumping against the cool stone floor. Ruva tried to cover herself more, but she froze as the stall door opened.

A young woman, probably in her late twenties or early thirties, walked into Eclipse's stall. She was whistling a bouncy and upbeat tune. She led Monarch out of her stool, and Ruva thought she had succeeded in hiding.

That was, until she called out good morning to her.

Ruva froze. She had seen her! But why didn't she grab at her, or alarm any teachers about where she was. Did she realise Ruva wasn't meant to be there? It's not like she finds students curled up in the straw every morning! Feeling too curious to do anything else, Ruva got up and followed the woman outside.

Once Ruva arrived outside, she was amazed to see the woman riding Eclipse with unforgettable grace. Her movements were fluid, seeming one with her mount. Ruva's jaw dropped as the woman took her outstanding display to the next level. She stood up on Eclipse while the horse cantered! She barely seemed to be jolted as she stood, she seemed as graceful as a ballerina. The woman slowed Eclipse to a stop, before jumping down in front of Ruva.

Ruva could do nothing but gape. Who was this woman who could move so skilfully on horseback?

"Did you enjoy the show?" Ruva could do nothing but nod, awestruck as she was. The woman gave a laugh.

"I'm Tayla, the Equestrian Skills teacher here at Akarnae. I'm guessing you're Ruva?" Ruva nodded again.

"Come help me brush Eclipse down, and I'll tell you how I did it," Ruva nodded eagerly and she helped brush down the magnificent black horse. She relaxed listening to Tayla's easy going talk. Ruva payed close attention when she spoke of how she performed her standing up trick. She was so relaxed; she didn't expect at all for Tayla to ask one more question.

"Do you have any family?"

Ruva took in a gasp of air, all she could do was repeatedly shake her head as she tried to draw in more air. Tayla placed a calming hand on her shoulder.

"You know you can't stay here forever. This is Akarnae, a school for the gifted, not a home for unfortunate children. You need to find a new home; you can't stay here." Ruva nodded. As much as she hated to admit it, Tayla was right.

That was why Ruva didn't complain when the headmaster took her through a Bubbledoor. She didn't complain when she realised she was in an orphanage. She didn't even complain when she was left there.

Ruva was silent.

She couldn't speak.

She _wouldn't_ speak.

Not even to the people who adopted her.


	8. Chapter 8

**8**

Her new parents were Sela and Corbin. They had chosen her, given her wide and toothy smiles. She was nervous around them. They always seemed so happy, so eager to talk with Ruva. None of their goading could get her to speak.

They lived at the Royal Palace, Sela was a doctor and Corbin was the Stablemaster. Hearing that, Ruva showed an interest in horses, to the delight of her new guardians. Ruva had barely been able to blink when her parents showed her around the palace. The whole thing was pristine, shining, even glittering. Ruva couldn't feel comfortable in the palace, it just didn't feel real enough. Real life wasn't like this, not full of sparkles and devoid corridors.

Her own room was spacious and luxurious, the wide open gaps only reminded Ruva of how far she was from her real home. When they had first arrived, Sela had showed her around, fussing over what she liked and didn't like. When she refused to speak, Sela created a body language system she could use to communicate. This made Ruva warm up to her slightly, she liked how Sela hadn't forced her to speak. She had spent most of the day nodding or shaking her head when Sela showed her something. She would show Ruva a picture on her TCD and if she liked it, she'd nod her head. Sela would order it and it would arrive in a manner of seconds, thanks to her reliable TCD port.

By the end of the day, Ruva's room was fully furnished, with personal touch added with posters of horses and forests. Ruva had tried to make the room feel homier, more personal, but it still felt like a stranger's room. She sat awkwardly on the edge of her bed. It was too soft for her, she sunk right into it. Sela continued to talk to her for the rest of the day. Ruva became more and more uncomfortable, the walls seem to press in on her, and the air was stuffy. All she could think of was the glorious days she had spent riding with Moonrunner. She hadn't a care in the world.

"Let's go to the dining room. Daddy has spent the last few hours helping cook up a feast," Ruva nodded and followed Sela. She had insisted on being referred to as Mummy, but Ruva wouldn't call her that. Her real mum was so much more carefree compared to Sela. She was only a stand-in, a replacement guardian for her mum. Sela brought Ruva into a large dining room. Ruva was shocked to see almost twenty other people in the room.

"This is the staff dining room, most of us eat here every night. Others, like Wardens and militia, eat elsewhere," Sela turned to address the crowd. "Everyone, this is the new daughter of Corbin and I,"

The room fell silent as everyone examined Ruva. She shrank from the attention and tried to hide behind Sela. Sela gave a fake laugh.

"Come over here Ruva, see where Corbin is sitting?" Ruva nodded and started walking towards the table where her new parent was. Once she sat down, Corbin showed her how to use the menu. He had laughed at how shocked Ruva was when her choice had appeared almost instantly.

"Are you sure you don't want anything else with that?" Sela asked. Ruva looked down to her selection. She had chosen a plain leafy salad with no dressing and a bread roll. Ruva shook her head.

"Are you sure? Why don't you have something meatier?" Corbin suggested. Ruva shook her head once more. Ever since her parents told her about where meat comes from, she had been a firm vegetarian. Ruva looked on her menu and pointed out one of the options.

"Vegetarian meatloaf? If you want that, all you have to do is press that circle," said Corbin. Ruva shook her head again and pointed at the word vegetarian, then at herself. She did it multiple times until her guardians got the hint.

"You're a… Vegetarian?" Sela asked. Ruva nodded. She ate her meal in silence, listening to the soothing hum of many people talking.

…

Ruva woke up soaked in sweat. She'd had a nightmare, just like every other night this week. It was just before dawn, and icy enough that Ruva had slept in her jumper. Her room had a heater, but she always preferred having the window open to the fresh night air. Like every other night that week, Ruva climbed out her window and walked through the chilly grounds. She walked outside the gates, taking a quick glance at the half asleep Warden, and explored the nearby woods. On her second day, she had been delighted to learn that a few miles of woodland was protected by the Palace wards. Since then, she'd spent every morning rambling through the woods.

Ruva always returned before anyone noticed, no one in the city willingly woke up before nine. At breakfast, Sela and Corbin would sit her with all of the other kids whose parents worked at the palace. At first they were shy and wary around Ruva, but now they barely noticed her. Everyone at her table seemed excited, from the teenagers to the pre-schoolers. Before Ruva could work out what was going on, two new people sat down at their table. One of them was a tall and bulky boy with dark skin, and the other was Kaiden!

All of the children crowded round the two boys and started bombarding them with questions.

"Tell me about the academy!"

"Does Finn really use a zapping stick?"

"What gifts do people have?"

"I want to hear about the tower!"

"Did you get in trouble?"

The second boy laughed off their questions, but Ruva was too shocked to notice. She was staring at Kaiden, wondering about the chances that they would both live near each other in the Royal Palace. Kaiden noticed her gaze, and he gave a quick smile before the other boy started telling everyone around the table about their adventures.

"… And boy, the exams were hard. Right Kaid? I can't believe we've only been at Akarnae for a year, it feels like we've been there forever!"

"Tell us more Declan!" Called a little girl.

Declan laughed. "I want to eat something first!"

Ruva took a deep breath in. These people hung onto Declan's every word, just like people did to Ruva's dad. Ruva was flooded with memories about all the stories her Dad had told. Stories that left you hanging onto his every word. Real or made up, he could entrance you with his words. Tears started to trickle down her face. She wrapped her arms around her legs and started sniffing. All she could hear was her father's soothing voice, how he would always brush her head as he spoke. How she would never see her dad again.

Ruva didn't realise, but everyone stopped. They started whispering, unsure about the crying girl who had sat with them for weeks but never said a word. One of them ran across the dining hall to get Ruva's parents. Warm arms enveloped her and, for just a second, she thought it was her mum. She opened her eyes to see Sela carrying her up the stairs. Soothing her. Caring for her. Ruva started sobbing more, holding Sela tighter and tighter. If Ruva closed her eyes, she could imagine that her real mum was hugging her. That her real mum was telling her everything's going to be okay. That her real mum was caring for her.

Ruva fell asleep in her Sela's arms.


	9. Chapter 9

**9**

Ruva woke up in a sombre mood, the weight of her parent's death hanging over her like a heavy blanket. Today marks two months since they died. Today was also August seventh, Ruva's tenth birthday.

Ruva dragged her feet as she went into Sela's room. Sela was sitting on her bed, only having just woke up herself. Ruva was near tears when she entered, and when Sela saw, she invited Ruva into the bed with her. Ruva climbed onto the bed and crawled into Sela's lap. She started sniffing, missing her mum and dad more than ever.

Out of habit, she activated her dad's gift. She used to burst into tears whenever she accidentally used it, but now it only brought comfort. Ruva would search through her ribbons, looking for the ones from her mum and dad. They used to be only white ribbons, but since that night with the Hyroa, their ribbons were silver. Silver meant unbreakable, never to leave her. Only death could separate those ribbons, and separate it had. A ribbon was connected to her, but it was severed from the other end. Tainted with the black that means death. Ruva liked looking at her animal speaking ribbon too, embroidered within the lime green was every type of animal she had spoken to. Moonrunner was first on the list, followed by Basil.

The ribbons flickered away as Ruva's energy drained. She felt a little better, Sela was stroking her hair the way her mum would. She snuggled closer to Sela, relishing the feeling of having someone to hug. After a few minutes Sela lifted Ruva up.

"I'm sorry, I have to go to work now. You can go with Daddy to the stables," Sela gave Ruva a kiss on the cheek before putting her down.

"I love you," Sela called as she left.

…

Ruva was walking to the stables with Corbin, she was gripping his calloused hands tightly. She rubbed her fingers along the toughened skin he uses to grip horse reins. Corbin led them to the stable, a building Ruva had avoided in her morning wanders. She was afraid of what she might find in there. As they walked through the doors, Ruva was overwhelmed by the scent of horses. She took a deep breath in, memories ran through her head about the Akarnae stable. And Moonrunner. Ruva could almost feel Moonrunner's breath on her neck, her soft wicker asking if Ruva wanted to ride. A tear rolled down Ruva's cheek. Corbin squeezed her hands.

"Are you okay?"

When Ruva didn't respond, Corbin gave her a hug. The sudden warmth drew Ruva back to the present. She was filled with love for her new guardians. Ruva hugged Corbin back, squeezing him as hard as she could. Sela and Corbin could never replace her parents, that emptiness will always be in her heart. Instead her heart made room for them, room for the emptiness and for love. When Ruva finally pulled back, she looked at Corbin and gave him a big nod. Corbin smiled, not one of the fake toothy smiles he had given Ruva when she first arrived, but a real smile.

Corbin stood up. "I'm sorry Ruva, but I have work to do. You can come and watch me work, or you can wander around here. Is that okay?"

Ruva gave another firm nod. Corbin gave another smile before he disappeared around a corner. Ruva walked around the stables. Almost every stall was full, horses of all breeds and colours lived here. Ruva didn't feel too inclined to talk to any of them, she didn't talk to anyone. She looked at each horse more closely, each horse was tame and could converse easily with her. Ruva stopped in her tracks at the second to last stall. She stared at the horse within, wondering if she was imaging what she saw. Before she could stop herself, she spoke.

"Moonrunner?"

She had accidentally activated her gift when she said it, the horse looked up.

"How are you speaking to me? And how do you know the name of my brethren?" Ruva took a deep breath and spoke.

"I-I am Ruva Equine Speaker. I know Moonrunner because... because…" Because she saved Ruva. Because she taught Ruva how to ride. Because she kept Ruva safe. Because she delivered Ruva to Akarnae.

"… Because she n-named me," The horse snorted.

"I don't believe that. Why would my wild sister name a human child?"

"I d-don't know why. But there is a bond of love between us," Ruva blurted out. She hadn't meant to mention seeing the white ribbon connecting her to Moonrunner, how would she explain that to the horse?

The horse snorted once again. "So now you're telling me you can not only speak to equines, but you can see the strands that bind one thing to another?"

"I-what?" The horse snorted again.

"The ribbons of binding, the connections of life, call it what you want. Can you see the strands human?" The horse's voice was dripping with derision, almost daring Ruva to answer. Ruva took a deep breath.

"Y-Yes. I can see the ribbons," Ruva closed her eyes and activated her second gift. She opened her eyes and admired the millions of coloured ribbons surrounding her. She narrowed down her search to lime green ribbons, gift ribbons. Only two ribbons remained. One came flowing out of her heart, her animal speaking gift. The other was her dad's gift, unnaturally connected to her left wrist. She reached for her second gift, giving a slight gasp when the ribbon felt solid. She dragged the ribbon over to the horse, who seemed a dull yellow with her gift vision. She pressed the ribbon against its head. She smiled when she heard the horse's gasp, but her control started to waver.

All of the ribbons piled on her, and then, they were gone. Ruva's eyelids started to droop, and she stumbled to the side as an overwhelming wave of tiredness came over her. She didn't even notice the horse's shocked expression.

"It's true…" The horse said. "Who are you, Ruva Equine Speaker? You who can speak all tongues and see the ribbons of binding?"

"I-I don't… know. I'm just… really… really… tired…" Ruva broke off into a yawn, knowing that if she was here any longer, she'd end up falling asleep on the ground.

"Ruva, stay awake for a little while longer. I saw a yellow bond between us, a bond of friendship. You were meant to come here today, and I feel like… like I'm already going to miss you,"

Despite how tired Ruva was, she still managed to stand up and hug the horse. She started crying, overwhelmed by tiredness and sadness.

"Thank you," She whispered.

"No, Thank you, Ruva," The horse nickered back.

Ruva was so caught up in the embrace, she didn't even notice Princess Delucia peeking around the corner at her. Delucia's heart warmed at the sight of Ruva cuddling her horse Dancer. After observing for a few minutes, she left silently. This was Ruva's moment, she wasn't going to intrude. Delucia promised to herself she'd help whatever hurt plagued Ruva.

Delucia always keeps her promises.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for not updating for so long, I was on holidays!**

**10**

Ruva's stomach churned as she went through the Bubbledoor, today was her first day at Akarnae. What if her classmates didn't like her? What if no one wants to be her dorm buddy? After what seemed like a million years, the Bubbledoor spat her out in the middle of the grounds. The academy had barely changed over the last three years, the only difference being the fresh-faced first years gathered at the base of the tower.

Ruva grabbed at the horse charm on her mum's necklace, hoping it would give her luck. She took a deep breath, and started walking towards the group. Her long blond hair was plaited all down her back, with the end just brushing the back of her thighs. Sela had once tried to convince Ruva to cut it, but the last person who had done that was her mum, and Ruva didn't want to take another thing away from them.

As she approached the group their chattering stopped. They all looked at her, whispers floating around. Ruva couldn't hear them, but everyone was looking at her with curiosity. Once she entered the group people started chattering again, but Ruva still seemed excluded. Until, a short, owlish girl came up to her.

"Hi Angel girl. I'm Arrabella Squeaker, but I don't like my name. Just call me Arra."

Ruva stayed silent, she had no idea how she was supposed to introduce herself. When she stayed silent, Arra said "So what's your name, Angel girl?"

"Angel girl?" was all Ruva could say.

"Yeah, Angel girl. With your light clothes and that long blond hair, you look just like an angel!" Ruva glanced down at her clothes, starting to regret her outfit choice. She was wearing a white shirt, with a pale orange skirt. Her skin was tanned from riding all summer, and her blond hair made her resemblance to an angel all the more obvious.

"My name is Ruva, and you can call me – um – Ruva." Ruva cringed at her lame greeting, but Arra brushed it aside.

"I'm from Mardenia, and my mum owns a café called the Silver Plate. What about you?" At that moment Headmaster Marselle walked down the stairs. He started a grand speech, welcoming the first years and going on about growth and learning.

"My adoptive mum is the Palace Physician, and my adoptive dad is the Stablemaster," Ruva whispered.

"The palace?!" Arra squeaked. "As in the _Royal_ Palace?"

"Yes!" hissed Ruva, trying to listen to Marselle's speech.

"… And to kick off the day, we're going to have a tour of the academy. Afterwards we'll have lunch, then everyone can choose their dorm partner. From lunch till dinner, you'll settle into your new room, and get to know your classmates better. But for now, I'm going to take you to our first stop, the Akarnae Library."

It turned out the library was underground, the entire thing lying beneath the tower. While some of the people admired the floor-to-ceiling shelves packed with books, Ruva felt disinterested. Why should she look at words on a page when she could be outside learning from experiences?

Secondly, they explored the giant U-shaped complex called the Gen-Sec building. This is where they would have all their theory based lessons, lessons that Ruva considered boring. Chemistry, History, Medical Science and Studies of Society and Culture, also known as SOSAC. The only interesting thing to note about the _entire_ building was the Medical Ward. It covered the entire first floor, and Ruva had developed an interest for medical things ever since Sela took her on one of her shifts.

The Arena was large and intimidating, but the inside was bare and not very interesting. Ruva only found the Archery mildly interesting, but Arra seemed very excited. Ruva's favourite building by far was the stable, she couldn't wait for her first class. Arra however, had wrinkled her nose as soon as they entered, she was firmly in the opinion that were large smelly animals that could trample you at any time.

In the stable, Ruva saw two boys try to climb onto a small Shetland pony. Not wanting the poor creature to get hurt, Ruva ran over straight away.

"What are you doing?!" Ruva cried, before she could think.

"What does it look like? We're going to ride this tiny horse," said the first boy, one with vividly green eyes.

"You can't ride it, you'll crush it with your weight!" Ruva cried. The other students had gathered around them, and they all oohed with Ruva's declaration. Ruva's hands went to her necklace, blushing as she realised how she had insulted the boy.

The boy's green eyes flared in frustration. "Are you taking me on?"

Ruva didn't answer, her words suddenly caught in her throat. Her eyes darted around, trying to find Arra.

The second boy snickered, his greyish-brown hair catching in the light. The green-eyed boy walked threateningly closer, his voice dropping dangerously low. "Why don't you come outside? Then we can have a little… _talk_."

Ruva gulped, already thinking of the worst.

At that moment, Marselle came back around the corner. Ruva could see him frowning at the large gathering of students, and watched as the Headmaster's eyes flickered over her and the boy. "Jaiden Rembah and Ruva Springden, is anything wrong?"

They shook their heads, saying "No, Sir."

Ruva hoped that the headmaster would somehow know what was happening and put the boy, Jaiden, in his place. But even more than that she hoped that she could leave. Ruva was uncomfortable, the people around her were watching her every move, she didn't have space to breathe.

"That concludes our tour of Akarnae. Next we will go to the food court where you can ask me any additional questions you have about the campus."

Ruva was relieved when Marselle said it was time to go, she couldn't handle being surrounded by all those people any longer. Ruva trailed to the back of the group, trying to spot Arra. A hand grabbed onto her wrist and she was jerked to a stop.

"Hello, Angel." Ruva turned around to see that Jaiden had grabbed her wrist. Ruva started struggling, hit by the overwhelming déjà vu of when the man had tried to abduct her. Jaiden's friend was there now, laughing at Ruva's struggle.

"Oh, look at the pretty _wittle _angel with her pretty hair," Jaiden teased. "But where is Angel's wings? Let's hope she can fly without them." Jaiden shoved Ruva, making her loose her footing.

But what they didn't know, is that Ruva has had years of practice when falling over. All those years trying to stand on Dancer's back had given her great practice in the right way to fall. So instead of collapsing onto the ground like Jaiden expected, Ruva used her forward momentum to spin into a cartwheel. She landed harmlessly on her feet a metre away. Jaiden's face turned bright red with rage.

"Your little tricks won't stop me, Angel," Jaiden moved threateningly closer, but at that moment, Arra appeared.

"Back off from my friend!" she yelled.

"Oh yeah? Who's gonna stop me?" Jaiden retorted.

With a smirk, Arra said one word. "Me."

Arra grabbed Jaiden's hand with a vice-like grip, ignoring Jaiden as he tried to pull away. "Start running, Ruva! I'm going to use my gift on him.

At the word 'gift', Jaiden started struggling even more. But Ruva could see that he wasn't making any progress, Arra's grip was too strong.

Not a moment later, Arra stopped moving. Her skin and clothes developed a metallic sheen, and Ruva realised that she was metal. Arra was – was _metal_.

Ruva froze in her stupor, but Jaiden was the first to recover. "What the hell did she just do?" He tried to pull away, but his hand was trapped by Arra's unmoving fingers. He swore loud enough that Ruva winced, and she started to back away.

Jaiden noticed her inching towards the food court. "Get back here, Angel Girl! I need to teach you a lesson!"

Then, Ruva ran all the way to the food court, not looking back once.

…

Ruva sat at a table by herself, anxious for Arra's return. She ordered some lunch, but only picked at it. Ten minutes later, Arra walked into the food court, and Ruva sighed with relief. As she sat down, Ruva noticed her left cheek was red.

"Are you okay?" Ruva asked. "Your cheek is really red."

Arra gave a slight smile. "I'm fine."

Ruva didn't believe her, but didn't want to call out her lie. Instead, she asked, "What's it like in Mardenia? I've never been there before."

Arra's dark-amber eyes lit up, and began to describe the city in vivid detail.

Ruva's attention was drawn to a kid sitting at the back of the large room.

"Hey Arra, doesn't that kid at the back look lonely?" Arra looked up from her meal and found the kid Ruva was talking about.

"Why don't we go and talk to him?" Arra said. She got up and started walking over, ignorant of Ruva's desperate calls. Ruva had no choice but to follow her, or she'd be the one left alone.

As they walked over, Ruva felt her stomach twisting, something about the boy made her nervous. The boy saw them walking over, his chocolate-brown eyes lingering on Ruva. His face was pointed, but not with harsh, jarring angles. The boy had a soft, almost caring aura, like he already trusted her.

"Hi, I'm Arra and this is Ruva." Arra pointed to her and she gave a nervous wave. "Do you mind if we sit here?" The boy looked at them for a few seconds, then nodded.

Arra plonked herself down in a chair, Ruva hesitantly following suit. Her emotions were all over the place, and she had no idea why. Arra ordered a bowl of chips, placing them in the middle so they could all grab some. After half a minute of awkward silence, Arra asked "So… what's your name?"

An intense look of concentration appeared on the boy's face, and Ruva heard a voice in her mind.

'_My name is Leo Wendyl.'_

Arra and Ruva looked at Leo with equal expressions of shock. Had Ruva imagined it, or had the boy really spoken in their minds? As if Leo had read their thoughts – which he could've – both Ruva and Arra heard a gentle laugh in their minds. _'Don't worry, it's just my gift.'_

Arra's jaw dropped, but Ruva had gotten over her shock. Without another thought she activated her second gift.

As the colourful ribbons surrounded her, Ruva wasted no time in focusing on Leo. Nearly all the ribbons disappeared, but there were still hundreds from just the boy. Ruva reached over and cautiously touched his gift ribbon, she could hear Arra trying to talk to her, but her voice sounded like it was a million miles away. Ruva let herself become absorbed by Leo's gift ribbon.

Information came piling into her, about the gift's proximities and limits, furthest extending points and other complicated things Ruva couldn't understand. Ruva pulled out of the ribbon, her head hurting from the information overload.

From the jumble of words, Ruva managed to work out that Leo's gift wasn't mind reading, just telepathic communication. He wouldn't be able to see what they were thinking unless they projected it to him. This gave Ruva some relief, and she was about to withdraw from her gift when something caught her attention.

Leo's purple ribbon, the one that connected him to whoever he would someday fall in love with, had already turned a pale pink. Ruva reached over to the ribbon, too curious to do anything else. She touched it with caution, not fully immersing herself within it. For a second she could see nothing but pale pink, but when that faded Ruva saw an image of _herself_.

_She_ was the one connected to his pink ribbon. _Leo_ was going to fall in love with _her_!

Ruva withdrew from her gift, doing it much faster than was healthy. With a disorienting whirl of colours, the ribbons flashed in front of her face, momentarily dazing her as she returned to the real world. When her senses finally returned, she saw Arra waving a hand in front of her face. Ruva blinked and pushed Arra's hand down.

"Wow, you were really out of it then, Angel. I clapped in front of your face and you didn't even blink," said Arra. Ruva nodded slightly, she couldn't help but stare at Leo from across the table. He noticed her gaze, and his lip twitched. What was that about? Ruva's experiment with Leo's gift ribbon told her that, but Ruva couldn't shake off the feeling that he knew more than he should.

"…Angel? You listening?" Ruva was brought back to the present moment. She angled herself towards Arra and tried to look attentive. "As I was saying, while you were busy zoning out, Leo told me a bit about his family. He has eight brothers and sisters! Eight! I mean, my house feels way too crowded, and I've only got two siblings! Imagine having eight!" Ruva raised her eyebrows, she was only catching about half of what Arra said, her mind was anywhere but in the room.

"So Leo's the middle child with four older siblings and four younger ones. Only his oldest sister has a gift, but he thinks the twins will someday have a gift. Oh! And the reason he greeted us using his gift instead of talking, is because he literally doesn't have a voice! He was born without a voice in his throat, so the only way he can communicate is by writing or using his gift! Isn't that interesting?" Ruva nodded, she kept looking at her feet then at Leo then at her feet again.

The rest of lunch took an agonising amount of time, Ruva kept looking up to see Leo looking back, then she'd quickly look away. It would be too rude to just walk away from them, but Ruva's palms were sweaty and she was fiddling with her necklace more and more. It was an absolute relief when Marselle invited them over, he had some announcement to make. Ruva all but dragged Arra away from the table, trying to get as much distance as possible between her and Leo. Once they had all gathered together, Marselle started to speak.

"I hope you've all enjoyed your orientation so far, and all had the opportunity to meet more people, to create experiences. Now that we've settled in more, it's time to pick your roommates." The crowd of eager first years pressed in against Marselle, and everyone started calling out who they wanted to be with.

"I want to go with Jake!"

"Put me with Grace!"

"I'll go in with Ed!"

"Can I go with Alice?"

The headmaster laughed. "Slow down everyone! First find your dorm buddy, then head over to one of these TCDs…" The rest of what Marselle said was drowned out by a chorus of voices, all asking the same question. 'Do you want to go with me?' Ruva heard those words echo all around, as everyone worked out who they were going to go with. Ruva turned to Arra, unsure about what she should say. What if Arra didn't want to be her dorm buddy? Ruva steadied her breathing and brushed her fingers against her necklace. Eventually Ruva worked up the courage to ask Arra.

"You going in with me, Angel?" asked Arra. Ruva was about to ask the same question, so she just nodded. Arra dragged her over to one of the TCDs, where they filled and submitted their sheet. After a few seconds, their results came back.

"Look! We're in the last room on the fifth floor! Come on, let's go!" Ruva followed Arra as she ran out of the food court to a building that was a short distance away. Arra seemed to know her way around, and she brought them through the doorway and up four flights of stairs.

She slowed down a little when she got to the corridor, but not much. Arra seemed determined to get to their dorm before anyone else. When they reached the last door, Arra placed her hand against it and the door opened. Without a second thought, she stepped in and slumped onto the bed on the left. Ruva sat down on the bed to the right, admiring the view they had out the window.

"Wow," Arra sighed. "We're finally here, at Akarnae. I'll be fully safe here, out of reach from… from…" Arra's hand rose to her reddened cheek, which Ruva could now see was the beginnings of a bruise.

"Safe from who?" asked Ruva. When she didn't stir, Ruva put her hand on Arra's shoulder. "Arra? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's nothing. I'm fine," replied Arra, refusing to look at her.

"Hey, look. Our stuff has arrived," said Ruva, trying to draw Arra's attention from whatever she was thinking. All of their supplies from home had just arrived, Ruva could see one of her posters, a pile of pencils, her own small comTCD, along with other things like her clothes and toiletries. Arra's pile was far smaller, containing only clothes and a book or two. There was one interesting thing, on top of the pile was what looked like a metallic rose. Only, it wasn't fully metal, the stem was green and full of life. Ruva leaned over and touched it, gasping when the petals were soft instead of the cold metal she had been expecting.

Ruva picked it up and carried it over to Arra, who was holding her legs against her chest, her chin on her knees.

"Hey Arra, can you tell me about this?" She asked. Arra looked up, her face brightening slightly when she saw the rose.

"This was a birthday present from Tim and Pipsqueak, my older sister and brother. Their names are actually Timothy and Phillipia Squeaker, but no one calls them that. Tim and Pip are both gifted, Pipsqueak can manipulate people's emotions, and Tim can change the colour of things. For my birthday Tim turned a rose silver, the same shade of silver that I become when using my gift. Then he preserved it, so it'll stay fresh forever.

Then Pipsqueak used her gift to put emotions into the flower. Whenever I hold the rose it gives me feelings of love, trust and safety. When they gave it to me, they said I was a rose surrounded by thorns. No matter how many thorns or challenges I come across, I grow better because of it."

Ruva put her arm around Arra. "I'm glad."

They spent the rest of the afternoon setting up their dorm.


	11. Chapter 11

**11**

Each day, Ruva would ride Dancer. She didn't have nightmares about her parents anymore, not since she first rode the horse. In the mornings Corbin joined her, but in the afternoons Ruva was on her own. She spent this time exploring the woods with Dancer, talking with animals of all shapes and sizes. Ruva had become almost a celebrity to them, birds would fly over to her and ask if she could really talk to all animals. They asked questions as normal as 'how long have you been able to speak to us?' to outright nosey and unbelievable questions like 'are you really a human?'

Late in the afternoons, when both Sela and Corbin were at work, Ruva would practice the move Tayla had shown her. It took her two weeks of falling off before she could manage to stand while Dancer was going at a trot, but slowly she had improved her skill so she could do it while Dancer was cantering. Ruva knew she lacked the finesse and skills to look like Tayla did, flowing with the horse. But Ruva was proud of her efforts, and wanted to surprise Sela and Corbin at Kaldoras.

Kaldoras was only a few weeks away, and Ruva was trying to perfect her routine. She was on the wide, sandy beach where Ruva had first rode Dancer. Ruva preferred to do her practice here – not just because the sand hurt less when she fell off Dancer. Ruva spent extra time doing her routine with Dancer, Princess Delucia was coming back from Akarnae today. All of the schools, including Akarnae, had a two week break for the Kaldoras holidays, meaning Delucia would want to ride Dancer.

It was late afternoon, and everything was silent. Ruva didn't recognise the silence, she'd almost finished her routine, and was as proud as ever at what she'd achieved. Ruva heard a clatter of horse hoofs and saw the princess and her warden ride onto her beach. The unexpected audience made her mess up her practice, and she ended up falling of Dancer again.

When Ruva hit the ground, she groaned. She'd had enough practice of falling off to angle herself so she wouldn't break anything, but her behind was still bruised each time she fell. Ruva was just getting up when something sprang from the bushes. Ruva got into a fighting stance, automatically assuming that it was a Hyroa. She almost didn't jump in time when she realised it was a man on horseback.

The hooded man leapt off a horse and grabbed onto her arm so she couldn't escape.

"I've got the princess," said the man, his voice was distorted, unnaturally deep and rough. He must have some sort of machine that changed his speech, making it unidentifiable.

"No! Stop! I'm not the princess!" The man laughed in his deep, distorted voice.

"You're the same age as the princess, and you ride the princess' kingly mount, but you're _not_ the princess?" The hooded man laughed again. "Sorry Your Highness, but I'm not stupid," Ruva couldn't escape, but maybe she could call for help. The real princess and her warden were hopefully still nearby, surely – _surely_ – the warden might hear her and call for backup. Ruva took in a deep breath, and was about to yell 'HELP!' as loud as she could, but the hooded man wrenched her arm behind her back. An intense burst of pain hit her shoulder, so instead of yelling, Ruva screamed at the top of her lungs.

The scream was the loudest noise Ruva had ever made, and it just kept on going. She saw every birds fly away from the noise, thousands of them. Even the man faltered in his attack, but only for a few seconds. He then leapt towards her and wrapped his dirty gloved hand around Ruva's mouth. Ruva kicked and struggled in any way she could, knowing that at any moment, her help would arrive. Any moment now, the wardens would come and save her. Ruva managed to land one solid kick to the man's knee, but then she felt something cold and sharp pressed against her neck. She immediately stopped, and looked down to see a dagger placed against the vulnerable flesh just below her jaw.

"There we are, not so feisty anymore, Your Highness," Ruva shuddered, unable to control her reaction as she relived her parent's last moments. Was this how they felt, knowing they were going to die?

Ruva took a shaky breath in, thinking about those things wouldn't help her. She _will_ survive this, no matter what. Ruva froze, not making the slightest movement. She had to find a way out of the man's grip. She needed to find something that she had, but the man didn't. The man had brute strength, a weapon, and he could use her life as bargaining power if necessary.

Ruva didn't have the strength – or the experience – to fight her way out of his grip. She didn't have a weapon, or anything she could use to defend herself either. The only thing Ruva could think of was to tell the man where the real princess was. The thought of betraying someone so slyly horrified Ruva, but in such a defenceless position, she couldn't help but consider it. But even if she did do it, would the man believe her? No, he wouldn't. He was already convinced he'd caught the princess; he wouldn't believe a word that come out of her mouth.

Then Ruva realised what she could do. She didn't have a weapon, she didn't have the strength, but what she _did_ have, was a _gift_.

"Make a single noise and my knife might slip," the man said. The man took his hand off Ruva's mouth and pulled a bubbler vial out of his pocket. He smashed it to the ground, and a Bubbledoor appeared. Ruva took a deep breath and activated her gift.

She yelled at the top of her lungs "HELP!"

But she didn't yell it in Medoran,

She used her animal-speaking gift.

Her yell sounded the same as a Hyroa's roar.

The man stumbled back, his feet landing in the water. Ruva turned around and followed the man. She kept using her gift, slowly advancing on the now terrified man as he stumbled further and further back into the water. When Ruva was in knee-deep water she stopped. If she went in any further the undertow would pull her out into open water. Ruva closed her mouth, stopping the spine-tingling roar before it drained all her energy. The silence that followed was deafening, making Ruva realise her roar was louder than she had thought. The man was now treading water, he was being drawn further and further out by a rip, but he was too shocked to notice.

Ruva knew this was her chance, so she turned around and sprinted towards the trees. Well, tried to. As soon as Ruva turned around she ran headlong into a warden. The warden was too shocked to react, and they both toppled over. Ruva rolled off the warden and looked around. There were ten wardens, all of them looking at her with expressions ranging from shock to fear. All except one. A woman walked over to Ruva and helped her up.

"Ruva, isn't it?" Ruva nodded, her throat was sore from using her gift so loudly, she didn't want speak unnecessarily.

"I'm Commander Nisha. Warden William, who was princess Delucia's protective detail for today, saw the man try to abduct you. His priority was to protect the princess, so he had to alert us instead. I understand you must be shocked, but it is Warden Protocol to interview witnesses as soon as possible. Just come through this Bubbledoor and we'll finish this in about ten minutes," said Commander Nisha. Seeing little choice, Ruva went with the warden through the Bubbledoor.

…

Ruva collapsed into her bed hours later, exhausted by the day's events. Her 'interview' with Commander Nisha had ended up taking over two hours, with the questions becoming so intense it felt more like an interrogation. At the start Ruva fell back into silence, but Nisha had heard her cry out, so Ruva didn't have any choice except to answer the questions. At first the questions were relatively easy to answer, questions like 'when did the man appear?' 'What did he say?' 'How did he react?'. Ruva had thought she was handling the interrogation well. Until Commander Nisha had asked a deadly question.

"How did you get out of his grip?"

Ruva had frozen, then gulped. So far, she'd managed to answer the questions without any problems. But this was beyond her comfort zone.

"I-I roared…" she had answered, trying to be as vague as possible.

"We know you roared, we couldn't make out half of Warden William's message because of it," said Nisha. "Show the recording," she said to some unknown listener.

A screen came to life on what Ruva had previously thought was a blank wall, showing Warden William and Princess Delucia in the background.

"… Code two-seven-six-one, I repeat two-seven-six-one. Requesting ur-" Whatever he was about to say was cut off, and the loudest roar Ruva had ever heard filled the room. It was terrifying, and it didn't end. Could she have really made such a loud noise?

Ruva was so shocked at how dangerous the roar sounded that she confessed everything. She told them about her parents, her trip to the academy, everything that had happened in the last two months. Nisha continued asking questions, but Ruva became more and more tired until she could barely speak cohesive sentences.

Finally, Nisha let Ruva leave. She had been swept through a Bubbledoor, landing straight in front of Sela and Corbin. They had rushed over as soon as the saw her, and smothered her in a crushing hug. Ruva started crying, but not because she was scared, but because she felt _safe_.

"We're so glad you're okay, Ruva. We love you," Then, Ruva did something she hasn't done for almost six months. She _spoke_ to them. Just four words.

"I love you too,"

**Three and a half years later**

It was halfway through summer, just three weeks before Ruva would leave the Palace to go to Akarnae. Today was her birthday, and to celebrate, Sela and Corbin came down to the beach for a picnic. Ruva was using her animal speaking gift, making her parents laugh at how realistic the sounds were. She hadn't once regretted telling them everything. In fact, telling them about her _real _parents made Ruva feel alive once more.

"Your gift never ceases to amaze me, but you promised us a show," said Corbin.

Ruva nodded and stood up. She shooed the birds that had gathered, listening to her and hoping for some crumbs. She climbed onto Dancer, and she started trotting. Just when Ruva was about to start, a new person appeared. It was Princess Delucia – who was probably looking for her horse.

Ruva turned away from them, and fingered her mum's Myrox necklace.

"Are you ready, Dancer?" Dancer whickered in response. "Then let's do this," Dancer broke into a gallop, and Ruva leapt to her feet. Ruva stood up on Dancer as she galloped.

She gained her balance, and then, she started to dance.

Ruva pirouetted in the air, perfectly timing her landing with Dancer's stride. She stood on one leg, leaning forward further and further without falling off. Ruva moved with Dancer, her actions flowing and steady. Dancer rode around and around, Ruva's moves moving with her mount and differentiating from it. Finally, Ruva leapt off Dancer, performing a move similar to a _grand jet_é. She landed perfectly, rising to look at her stunned audience. Sela, Corbin and Delucia were all gaping at her.

When they continued to be silent Ruva hesitantly spoke. "Did you like it?"

Corbin was the first to shake off his stupor. He leapt up and ran over to Ruva. "Like it? I loved it! That was incredible! I've never seen such skill, Ruva! Are you really only fourteen? You definitely ride as if you've had decades of experience!"

Sela walked over, smiling at her husband's enthusiasm. "We're so proud of you, Ruva. Things just won't be the same when you go to Akarnae," Sela planted a loving kiss on Ruva's forehead. Ruva turned to the princess, who was still sitting on the picnic rug. When Delucia noticed Ruva's gaze she stood up and walked over.

Delucia admired how much the girl had grown over the past three years. She was no longer the silent nine-year-old who found it hard to connect with others, she was a teenager who overcame every obstacle that was thrown at her. Delucia almost envied how comfortable the girl was in her own skin, Delucia had never had that stability when she was her age.

"Happy birthday Ruva," said Delucia, and before her eyes Ruva reverted back to her shy nature.

"Thank you, Your Highness," said Ruva.

Delucia chose her next words carefully, acting on a true dream she'd had. "You rode so skilfully on Dancer, much better than I ever could. I was wondering if – call it a birthday present if you want – you would like to take Dancer to Akarnae. To ride for classes," Delucia inwardly cringed, wishing she didn't sound so awkward.

"I – you're saying…" Ruva trailed off, too shocked to finish.

"I'm handing my ownership of Dancer over to you. You deserve her more than me," Delucia was reminded vividly of the vision she had seen. Ruva had been riding Dancer at Akarnae, she was distressed and injured, but alive. Delucia knew Ruva needed Dancer more than she did, and she would've given anything to experience the kindness she was giving to Ruva.

Ruva charged towards Delucia and wrapped her arms around her tight. She was crying with joy, and Delucia tried not to cry too.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" Ruva cried.

And then, Delucia felt her walls crumble. _This_ is what it meant to be a princess. For so long, Delucia had been taking from others. She took things from Maxton, from Jordan, from everyone she thought was beneath her.

But, instead of taking, Delucia should've been _giving_. Treating everyone as they were above her, worth more than her. By making others valuable, Delucia became priceless.

Delucia would give everything she was, and everything she could be to her people.

It was the least they deserved.

**This isn't the end! Next we'll be jumping ahead to Ruva's first year at Akarnae!**


	12. Chapter 12

**12**

Ruva's stomach churned as she went through the Bubbledoor, today was her first day at Akarnae. What if her classmates didn't like her? What if no one wants to be her dorm buddy? After what seemed like a million years, the Bubbledoor spat her out in the middle of the grounds. The academy had barely changed over the last three years, the only difference being the fresh-faced first years gathered at the base of the tower.

Ruva grabbed at the horse charm on her mum's necklace, hoping it would give her luck. She took a deep breath, and started walking towards the group. Her long blond hair was plaited all down her back, with the end just brushing the back of her thighs. Sela had once tried to convince Ruva to cut it, but the last person who had done that was her mum, and Ruva didn't want to take another thing away from them.

As she approached the group their chattering stopped. They all looked at her, whispers floating around. Ruva couldn't hear them, but everyone was looking at her with curiosity. Once she entered the group people started chattering again, but Ruva still seemed excluded. Until, a short, owlish girl came up to her.

"Hi Angel girl. I'm Arrabella Squeaker, but I don't like my name. Just call me Arra."

Ruva stayed silent, she had no idea how she was supposed to introduce herself. When she stayed silent, Arra said "So what's your name, Angel girl?"

"Angel girl?" was all Ruva could say.

"Yeah, Angel girl. With your light clothes and that long blond hair, you look just like an angel!" Ruva glanced down at her clothes, starting to regret her outfit choice. She was wearing a white shirt, with a pale orange skirt. Her skin was tanned from riding all summer, and her blond hair made her resemblance to an angel all the more obvious.

"My name is Ruva, and you can call me – um – Ruva." Ruva cringed at her lame greeting, but Arra brushed it aside.

"I'm from Mardenia, and my mum owns a café called the Silver Plate. What about you?" At that moment Headmaster Marselle walked down the stairs. He started a grand speech, welcoming the first years and going on about growth and learning.

"My adoptive mum is the Palace Physician, and my adoptive dad is the Stablemaster," Ruva whispered.

"The palace?!" Arra squeaked. "As in the _Royal_ Palace?"

"Yes!" hissed Ruva, trying to listen to Marselle's speech.

"… And to kick off the day, we're going to have a tour of the academy. Afterwards we'll have lunch, then everyone can choose their dorm partner. From lunch till dinner, you'll settle into your new room, and get to know your classmates better. But for now, I'm going to take you to our first stop, the Akarnae Library."

It turned out the library was underground, the entire thing lying beneath the tower. While some of the people admired the floor-to-ceiling shelves packed with books, Ruva felt disinterested. Why should she look at words on a page when she could be outside learning from experiences?

Secondly, they explored the giant U-shaped complex called the Gen-Sec building. This is where they would have all their theory based lessons, lessons that Ruva considered boring. Chemistry, History, Medical Science and Studies of Society and Culture, also known as SOSAC. The only interesting thing to note about the _entire_ building was the Medical Ward. It covered the entire first floor, and Ruva had developed an interest for medical things ever since Sela took her on one of her shifts.

The Arena was large and intimidating, but the inside was bare and not very interesting. Ruva only found the Archery mildly interesting, but Arra seemed very excited. Ruva's favourite building by far was the stable, she couldn't wait for her first class. Arra however, had wrinkled her nose as soon as they entered, she was firmly in the opinion that were large smelly animals that could trample you at any time.

In the stable, Ruva saw two boys try to climb onto a small Shetland pony. Not wanting the poor creature to get hurt, Ruva ran over straight away.

"What are you doing?!" Ruva cried, before she could think.

"What does it look like? We're going to ride this tiny horse," said the first boy, one with vividly green eyes.

"You can't ride it, you'll crush it with your weight!" Ruva cried. The other students had gathered around them, and they all oohed with Ruva's declaration. Ruva's hands went to her necklace, blushing as she realised how she had insulted the boy.

The boy's green eyes flared in frustration. "Are you taking me on?"

Ruva didn't answer, her words suddenly caught in her throat. Her eyes darted around, trying to find Arra.

The second boy snickered, his greyish-brown hair catching in the light. The green-eyed boy walked threateningly closer, his voice dropping dangerously low. "Why don't you come outside? Then we can have a little… _talk_."

Ruva gulped, already thinking of the worst.

At that moment, Marselle came back around the corner. Ruva could see him frowning at the large gathering of students, and watched as the Headmaster's eyes flickered over her and the boy. "Jaiden Rembah and Ruva Springden, is anything wrong?"

They shook their heads, saying "No, Sir."

Ruva hoped that the headmaster would somehow know what was happening and put the boy, Jaiden, in his place. But even more than that she hoped that she could leave. Ruva was uncomfortable, the people around her were watching her every move, she didn't have space to breathe.

"That concludes our tour of Akarnae. Next we will go to the food court where you can ask me any additional questions you have about the campus."

Ruva was relieved when Marselle said it was time to go, she couldn't handle being surrounded by all those people any longer. Ruva trailed to the back of the group, trying to spot Arra. A hand grabbed onto her wrist and she was jerked to a stop.

"Hello, Angel." Ruva turned around to see that Jaiden had grabbed her wrist. Ruva started struggling, hit by the overwhelming déjà vu of when the man had tried to abduct her. Jaiden's friend was there now, laughing at Ruva's struggle.

"Oh, look at the pretty _wittle _angel with her pretty hair," Jaiden teased. "But where is Angel's wings? Let's hope she can fly without them." Jaiden shoved Ruva, making her loose her footing.

But what they didn't know, is that Ruva has had years of practice when falling over. All those years trying to stand on Dancer's back had given her great practice in the right way to fall. So instead of collapsing onto the ground like Jaiden expected, Ruva used her forward momentum to spin into a cartwheel. She landed harmlessly on her feet a metre away. Jaiden's face turned bright red with rage.

"Your little tricks won't stop me, Angel," Jaiden moved threateningly closer, but at that moment, Arra appeared.

"Back off from my friend!" she yelled.

"Oh yeah? Who's gonna stop me?" Jaiden retorted.

With a smirk, Arra said one word. "Me."

Arra grabbed Jaiden's hand with a vice-like grip, ignoring Jaiden as he tried to pull away. "Start running, Ruva! I'm going to use my gift on him.

At the word 'gift', Jaiden started struggling even more. But Ruva could see that he wasn't making any progress, Arra's grip was too strong.

Not a moment later, Arra stopped moving. Her skin and clothes developed a metallic sheen, and Ruva realised that she was metal. Arra was – was _metal_.

Ruva froze in her stupor, but Jaiden was the first to recover. "What the hell did she just do?" He tried to pull away, but his hand was trapped by Arra's unmoving fingers. He swore loud enough that Ruva winced, and she started to back away.

Jaiden noticed her inching towards the food court. "Get back here, Angel Girl! I need to teach you a lesson!"

Then, Ruva ran all the way to the food court, not looking back once.

…

Ruva sat at a table by herself, anxious for Arra's return. She ordered some lunch, but only picked at it. Ten minutes later, Arra walked into the food court, and Ruva sighed with relief. As she sat down, Ruva noticed her left cheek was red.

"Are you okay?" Ruva asked. "Your cheek is really red."

Arra gave a slight smile. "I'm fine."

Ruva didn't believe her, but didn't want to call out her lie. Instead, she asked, "What's it like in Mardenia? I've never been there before."

Arra's dark-amber eyes lit up, and began to describe the city in vivid detail.

Ruva's attention was drawn to a kid sitting at the back of the large room.

"Hey Arra, doesn't that kid at the back look lonely?" Arra looked up from her meal and found the kid Ruva was talking about.

"Why don't we go and talk to him?" Arra said. She got up and started walking over, ignorant of Ruva's desperate calls. Ruva had no choice but to follow her, or she'd be the one left alone.

As they walked over, Ruva felt her stomach twisting, something about the boy made her nervous. The boy saw them walking over, his chocolate-brown eyes lingering on Ruva. His face was pointed, but not with harsh, jarring angles. The boy had a soft, almost caring aura, like he already trusted her.

"Hi, I'm Arra and this is Ruva." Arra pointed to her and she gave a nervous wave. "Do you mind if we sit here?" The boy looked at them for a few seconds, then nodded.

Arra plonked herself down in a chair, Ruva hesitantly following suit. Her emotions were all over the place, and she had no idea why. Arra ordered a bowl of chips, placing them in the middle so they could all grab some. After half a minute of awkward silence, Arra asked "So… what's your name?"

An intense look of concentration appeared on the boy's face, and Ruva heard a voice in her mind.

'_My name is Leo Wendyl.'_

Arra and Ruva looked at Leo with equal expressions of shock. Had Ruva imagined it, or had the boy really spoken in their minds? As if Leo had read their thoughts – which he could've – both Ruva and Arra heard a gentle laugh in their minds. _'Don't worry, it's just my gift.'_

Arra's jaw dropped, but Ruva had gotten over her shock. Without another thought she activated her second gift.

As the colourful ribbons surrounded her, Ruva wasted no time in focusing on Leo. Nearly all the ribbons disappeared, but there were still hundreds from just the boy. Ruva reached over and cautiously touched his gift ribbon, she could hear Arra trying to talk to her, but her voice sounded like it was a million miles away. Ruva let herself become absorbed by Leo's gift ribbon.

Information came piling into her, about the gift's proximities and limits, furthest extending points and other complicated things Ruva couldn't understand. Ruva pulled out of the ribbon, her head hurting from the information overload.

From the jumble of words, Ruva managed to work out that Leo's gift wasn't mind reading, just telepathic communication. He wouldn't be able to see what they were thinking unless they projected it to him. This gave Ruva some relief, and she was about to withdraw from her gift when something caught her attention.

Leo's purple ribbon, the one that connected him to whoever he would someday fall in love with, had already turned a pale pink. Ruva reached over to the ribbon, the colour similar to an early spring blossom. It was pale enough that she would've called it white if it wasn't for its pink glow. She touched it with caution, not fully immersing herself within it. For a second she could see nothing but pale pink, but when that faded Ruva saw an image of _herself_.

_She_ was the one connected to his pink ribbon. _Leo_ was going to fall in love with _her_!

Ruva withdrew from her gift, doing it much faster than was healthy. With a disorienting whirl of colours, the ribbons flashed in front of her face, momentarily dazing her as she returned to the real world. When her senses finally returned, she saw Arra waving a hand in front of her face. Ruva blinked and pushed Arra's hand down.

"Wow, you were really out of it then, Angel. I clapped in front of your face and you didn't even blink," said Arra. Ruva nodded slightly, she couldn't help but stare at Leo from across the table. He noticed her gaze, and his lip twitched. What was that about? Ruva's experiment with Leo's gift ribbon told her that, but Ruva couldn't shake off the feeling that he knew more than he should.

"…Angel? You listening?" Ruva was brought back to the present moment. She angled herself towards Arra and tried to look attentive. "As I was saying, while you were busy zoning out, Leo told me a bit about his family. He has eight brothers and sisters! Eight! I mean, my house feels way too crowded, and I've only got two siblings! Imagine having eight!" Ruva raised her eyebrows, she was only catching about half of what Arra said, her mind was anywhere but in the room.

"So Leo's the middle child with four older siblings and four younger ones. Only his oldest sister has a gift, but he thinks the twins will someday have a gift. Oh! And the reason he greeted us using his gift instead of talking, is because he literally doesn't have a voice! He was born without a voice in his throat, so the only way he can communicate is by writing or using his gift! Isn't that interesting?" Ruva nodded, she kept looking at her feet then at Leo then at her feet again.

The rest of lunch took an agonising amount of time, Ruva kept looking up to see Leo looking back, then she'd quickly look away. It would be too rude to just walk away from them, but Ruva's palms were sweaty and she was fiddling with her necklace more and more. It was an absolute relief when Marselle invited them over, he had some announcement to make. Ruva all but dragged Arra away from the table, trying to get as much distance as possible between her and Leo. Once they had all gathered together, Marselle started to speak.

"I hope you've all enjoyed your orientation so far, and all had the opportunity to meet more people, to create experiences. Now that we've settled in more, it's time to pick your roommates." The crowd of eager first years pressed in against Marselle, and everyone started calling out who they wanted to be with.

"I want to go with Jake!"

"Put me with Grace!"

"I'll go in with Ed!"

"Can I go with Alice?"

The headmaster laughed. "Slow down everyone! First find your dorm buddy, then head over to one of these TCDs…" The rest of what Marselle said was drowned out by a chorus of voices, all asking the same question. 'Do you want to go with me?' Ruva heard those words echo all around, as everyone worked out who they were going to go with. Ruva turned to Arra, unsure about what she should say. What if Arra didn't want to be her dorm buddy? Ruva steadied her breathing and brushed her fingers against her necklace. Eventually Ruva worked up the courage to ask Arra.

"You going in with me, Angel?" asked Arra. Ruva was about to ask the same question, so she just nodded. Arra dragged her over to one of the TCDs, where they filled and submitted their sheet. After a few seconds, their results came back.

"Look! We're in the last room on the fifth floor! Come on, let's go!" Ruva followed Arra as she ran out of the food court to a building that was a short distance away. Arra seemed to know her way around, and she brought them through the doorway and up four flights of stairs.

She slowed down a little when she got to the corridor, but not much. Arra seemed determined to get to their dorm before anyone else. When they reached the last door, Arra placed her hand against it and the door opened. Without a second thought, she stepped in and slumped onto the bed on the left. Ruva sat down on the bed to the right, admiring the view they had out the window.

"Wow," Arra sighed. "We're finally here, at Akarnae. I'll be fully safe here, out of reach from… from…" Arra's hand rose to her reddened cheek, which Ruva could now see was the beginnings of a bruise.

"Safe from who?" asked Ruva. When she didn't stir, Ruva put her hand on Arra's shoulder. "Arra? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's nothing. I'm fine," replied Arra, refusing to look at her.

"Hey, look. Our stuff has arrived," said Ruva, trying to draw Arra's attention from whatever she was thinking. All of their supplies from home had just arrived, Ruva could see one of her posters, a pile of pencils, her own small comTCD, along with other things like her clothes and toiletries. Arra's pile was far smaller, containing only clothes and a book or two. There was one interesting thing, on top of the pile was what looked like a metallic rose. Only, it wasn't fully metal, the stem was green and full of life. Ruva leaned over and touched it, gasping when the petals were soft instead of the cold metal she had been expecting.

Ruva picked it up and carried it over to Arra, who was holding her legs against her chest, her chin on her knees.

"Hey Arra, can you tell me about this?" She asked. Arra looked up, her face brightening slightly when she saw the rose.

"This was a birthday present from Tim and Pipsqueak, my older sister and brother. Their names are actually Timothy and Phillipia Squeaker, but no one calls them that. Tim and Pip are both gifted, Pipsqueak can manipulate people's emotions, and Tim can change the colour of things. For my birthday Tim turned a rose silver, the same shade of silver that I become when using my gift. Then he preserved it, so it'll stay fresh forever.

Then Pipsqueak used her gift to put emotions into the flower. Whenever I hold the rose it gives me feelings of love, trust and safety. When they gave it to me, they said I was a rose surrounded by thorns. No matter how many thorns or challenges I come across, I grow better because of it."

Ruva put her arm around Arra. "I'm glad."

They spent the rest of the afternoon setting up their dorm.


	13. Chapter 13

**13**

Ruva and Arra were sitting in the food court with all the other first years. The whole room was buzzing with voices, everyone from the first years to the apprentices wanted to share what they did in the summer. Ruva was eating a vegetarian rice dish, listening to her classmates and trying to learn more about them.

Jaiden and his friend weren't anywhere near Ruva, but Ruva could still hear his mean snicker as he laughed about someone. Leo was opposite to them, but he was looking at a boy to his right. Ruva was thankful Leo wasn't looking at her, she would've become too embarrassed. Dinner seemed to be stretching out, Ruva just wanted to finish eating and leave the crowded room. She had just finished her plateful and was starting to get up, but Arra pulled her back down.

"You can't leave yet; our potential hasn't been tested." Ruva nodded and sat back down.

Right on cue, lollipops appeared in front of all of them. Ruva put the lollipop into her mouth, Marselle having briefed them earlier on how the potential test worked.

"How do you think your results will turn out?" Arra asked.

Ruva shrugged. "I think I'll do well in PE and Equestrian Skills. I don't know how I'll do with Chemistry and Combat; I haven't done anything like that before."

"I know I'll do well in Archery, we once went on a holiday to a farm, and they had an archery course there. I did really well on it, better than Pip and Tim…"

Ruva listened to Arra talk, sucking on her lollipop until only the stick was left. She took it out of her mouth, and a bag materialised in front of her. Ruva put the stick in, and the bag disappeared again.

Everyone was silent, a nervous anticipation building in the air. Ruva was almost bouncing in her seat, what was taking so long? Finally, a small sheet of paper appeared in front of everyone. Ruva looked eagerly at her schedule. Alpha for Chemistry and Combat, Gamma for Archery and Delta for PE, her results were looking good. The one thing she was confused with was Equestrian Skills.

It said she was Karana for Equestrian Skills. What was Karana? Did she miss Marselle telling everyone which potential level Karana was? Ruva tapped Arra on the shoulder.

"Arra? What does this mean?" Ruva showed Arra her timetable.

"Karana? Is that a mistake? I've never heard of Karana before," said Arra. "Why don't we go ask the headmaster? He's sitting over there." Arra dragged Ruva over to the teacher's table, stopping in front of Marselle.

"Excuse me, sir, but I think there's been a mistake with Ruva's schedule. It says she's Karana for Equestrian Skills, but Karana isn't a potential level," said Arra.

"May I see it?" asked the headmaster. Arra handed it over. "Hmm, yes, I see what's happened here. Just come up to my office and we can sort this out. Thank you for showing me this, Arrabella, you can return to your seat."

Arra looked at Ruva, checking she was okay with this, then she turned around and headed back.

"Now Ruva, come with me up to my office." Ruva nodded and followed the headmaster into the tower. She climbed flight after flight of stairs, thinking they were much longer than she remembered. Once they got into Marselle's office, Ruva noticed it had barely changed from when she saw it five years ago.

"It's hard to believe you're the same girl I met five years ago, Ruva. You've grown physically and mentally, embracing what life has thrown at you."

"Thank you, Headmaster," she said politely.

"Ah, so you do have a voice. I was beginning to worry you were like that poor voiceless child, Leo. Your voice is very sweet, almost angelic." Ruva sighed inwardly, mentally adding Marselle to her list of people who compared her to an angel.

"Now, I must tell you about your potential test for Equestrian Skills. Karana _is_ a potential score, the highest and rarest you could ever achieve. The last Karana level student was at the academy fifty years ago, before I was headmaster." Marselle paused and brought up a screen. His fingers swiped across the keyboard too fast for Ruva to follow, and smiled when a file popped up.

"There have only been five recorded Karana potential scores since the academy was founded thousands of years ago. You are the sixth ever student to receive a Karana potential score, and the first to get it for Equestrian Skills."

Ruva's eyes widened, realising just how rare her potential score was. Out of thousands and thousands of students who've come and gone to Akarnae, only six have ever scored as high as she had. She must have looked as shocked as she felt, because the headmaster gave a merry laugh.

"You look shocked, Ruva." 'Shocked' was an understatement. "I know this is surprising, and this is the second time you've exceeded my expectations. Might I ask, do you feel comfortable talking about your second gift?" Ruva hesitated, then nodded.

Marselle smiled. "You've been a mystery since I first saw you, Ruva. You rode in on a wild horse, not knowing where you were. I asked the Wardens to keep an eye on you, and half a year later I received a two-hour long interview. That explained most of the mystery, but it didn't tell me one of the most important details…" Ruva gulped, already knowing what Marselle was going to say. It was the same question he asked five years ago.

"How did you end up with two gifts?"

Ruva sighed, she still didn't know how it was possible. "I-I don't know. I only had one gift up to when mum and dad died, but after that, I had two," said Ruva. The question had been nagging her for years, it wasn't meant to be biologically possible to have two gifts, but somehow she did.

The headmaster sighed. "Do you have any ideas or guesses that could help us find out about it?"

Ruva shook her head, and Marselle sighed again.

"You can go now, Ruva. For Equestrian Skills I'll put you in with the Epsilon class, and Tayla can give you more difficult challenges if you find things too easy. Have a good night." Ruva nodded and left, still in disbelief that Marselle implied Epsilon Equestrian Skills would be too easy for her.

When Ruva left the tower, she realised the food court was closed. Her talk with Marselle had taken longer than she thought. Ruva walked towards the dorm building, hoping that Arra wouldn't be worried about her. Ruva stopped at the stairs. She could hear people laughing downstairs, and she wondered if Arra might be in the Rec Room. She was about to go down, but she yawned, and realised she was very tired. Ruva decided against going down, she wanted sleep more than anything else. She continued up all five flights of stairs, and walked down to her room at the end. She opened the door to find Arra sitting at their shared desk.

Ruva changed into her pyjamas and hopped straight into bed.

"You going to sleep already? It's only eight-thirty." Arra turned away from whatever she was working on to concentrate on Ruva.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired today," Ruva yawned.

"Well, I suppose all angels need their beauty sleep," joked Arra. "By the way, why did you take so long with Marselle? He was just fixing that mistake on your timetable, wasn't he?"

"He told me about that, but then he asked me about my gifts."

Arra stopped what she was doing. "_Gifts_?" she repeated.

"Yes, gifts."

"Gifts, as in, more than one?"

"Yeah, my animal speaking gift and my ribbon-seeing gift." Ruva was too tired to notice the brazen way she revealed her second gift.

"WHAT?!" Arra shrieked.

Bur Ruva didn't hear Arra's response, she was already asleep.


	14. Chapter 14

**14**

When Ruva woke up the next morning, Arra was sitting on the end of her bed. She looked tired, but she looked almost relieved now that Ruva was awake.

"You've got some explaining to do, Angel. Do you really have two gifts, or are you just playing some cruel joke on me?" Arra stared at Ruva, her eyes accusing.

Ruva sighed and sat up, they had a long talk ahead of them. "I do have two gifts, but I don't really know how."

Arra arched an eyebrow, clearly not believing what she said. "Prove it."

Ruva exhaled. "One of my gifts is ribbon-seeing, I can see the ribbons that connect anything to everything." Arra didn't respond, her silence speaking volumes. Ruva sighed, the only way Arra would believe her is if she saw proof.

"I can show you, but not for too long. It takes a lot of energy." Ruva closed her eyes and reached for her second gift. When she opened her eyes, she took a second to admire the myriad of ribbons around her. These were the things that held the world together – literally _and_ figuratively.

Ruva reached for her lime-green gift ribbon, grabbing it and placing it on Arra's forehead. Arra rubbed her eyes and gasped, seeing the array of ribbons that were as familiar as home to Ruva. She immediately felt the extra strain of supporting two people. Ruva kept her gift on both of them for a minute, before she lost control and her gift deactivated.

"Okay, so you showed me your ribbon-seeing gift, but I've still got no proof of any other ones. You'd better not be lying to me, Angel."

"My other gift is animal speaking, I can understand and speak the language of any animal I hear."

Arra still looked unsure. "Do a dog."

Ruva barked, the sound reminding her deeply of Basil, who she hadn't seen since she rode to Akarnae on Moonrunner.

"Now do a cat."

Ruva meowed, remembering the first cat she spoke to. It was a gold tabby that lived in the kitchens, who spent her day lying on the windowsill waiting for her next feed.

"Those ones are too easy; you could just be mimicking their noises," said Arra.

This time it was Ruva who raised an eyebrow, knowing her noises were identical to the real thing.

"Do something hard, like a… like a Hyroa!"

Ruva gulped, she didn't want to scare Arra. "Are these walls soundproof?" Ruva asked. Arra nodded. Ruva walked over and shut the window, it was still early, but she didn't want to scare anyone who happened to be outside.

"Okay, I'll do it now. Just… just don't get scared." With that, Ruva roared. The sound that came from her was blood-curdling, despite her effort to choose a subtle roar. Arra jumped, turning into metal in mid-air, and landed on the bed with a thump. Ruva stopped her roar.

Arra was still metal, so Ruva walked over to her.

"Um, Arra?" Ruva reached a tentative hand towards Arra's metallic shoulder. Ruva shuddered when she realised it was cold, as if her friend had been whisked off and replaced with a carved statue. Ruva's wooden bed began to creak, groaning under the weight of its metal occupant. Ruva stepped back, right as she heard the tell-tale crack as the bed collapsed in on itself. Ruva stood there, shocked.

A few seconds later, Arra un-metallised herself, if that was the right word for it. Arra looked at her position, right in the centre of the snapped bed. "Um… oops?" she said.

Ruva helped pull her up from the shattered bed.

She looked very worried, and Ruva felt a surge of guilt for scaring her friend. She started to tremor as she thought of the consequences her roommate would face for breaking her bed – _let alone_ doing it on her first _ever_ day of classes.

"I'm sorry," blurted Ruva, when Arra continued to stare at her, "I didn't mean to scare you or for you to break the bed."

Arra blinked, then blinked again. Then her dark-amber eyes lit up with understanding. "I don't care about the _bed_, all I want to know is _how_ the _hell_ do you have two gifts?"

Ruva's eyes dropped to the floor, her hands on her necklace.

But Arra was unrelenting. "Well? Tell me!"

Ruva sighed. "When I was little, I only have one gift. But after my parents died, I had two." She could tell just from Arra's gaze that she wanted more, but there wasn't much else she could tell. She shrugged, saying, "That's all I know."

Arra continued to stare at her, but her expression was softer, more open. "How old were you when your parents died?"

Ruva looked at the ground once more. "I was nine."

She still missed her parents, Edward and Jacinta Springden. But now, it was an old ache, a pain that she had handled for the last five years. But Ruva still felt weight lift off her shoulders, the same feeling she had when she told Corbin and Sela about them.

Arra's stomach rumbled, breaking the moment between them. "Should we…" she started, the words strained. "Head down to the food court?"

She knew Arra was trying to keep things normal, and Ruva was grateful for her effort. Her friend's world had just exploded, and she was trying to comprehend how having two gifts was possible, when her whole life she was told the opposite.

"Thank you for…" Ruva paused thinking for the right thing to say. "Understanding. But I need to keep this secret, okay?"

Arra snorted. "I'm not stupid. Everyone would be in uproar if they found out about it."

Ruva smiled, "Thanks, Arra."

…

Ten minutes later, they were both eating in the food court. They were sitting at a table with Leo and his dark-haired roommate, Harry.

Harry soon had them roaring with laughter, telling them all a hilarious story about the time he somehow ended up in the parade.

"…and then, I was in the middle of a group of cheerleaders! Two of them threw me into the air, not realising I wasn't part of their group. I went up about two metres, screaming all the way, and when I came down they made me do the splits when I landed!" Harry chuckled with everyone, his almond-shaped eyes creased with laughter.

"I swear I heard something rip, but I couldn't check in the middle of the parade! It wasn't until I got home an hour later I realised my bright-red undies were showing. No wonder everyone was laughing so much when I tried to blend in with the clowns!"

Everyone cracked up laughing, the magic of Harry's storytelling too good to resist. Ruva's eyes fell on Leo, and she watched him laughing. He had a broad smile on his face, but no sound came out of his mouth when he laughed. It was fascinating, and Ruva wondered what had happened to leave her without a voice.

Leo sent her a questioning look, and Ruva belatedly realised she was staring. She dropped her gaze to her half-eaten breakfast, her fingers reaching to her necklace. Everyone continued talking, but Ruva couldn't bring herself to look up.

Finally, the gong rang, and Ruva scurried off to her first class.

….

In the final lesson of the day, Ruva had Equestrian Skills. She arrived early at the stable, she wasn't the only one there. Princess Delucia stood there, her expression as shocked as Ruva's own.

"Are you… Are you in this class?" Delucia stuttered. Ruva nodded, deeply distracted by the princess' lack of composure. After a few seconds of stunned silence, Delucia gave a breathless laugh.

"What was I thinking? Of course you'd be in this class, Ruva. You're one of the best riders I know."

Ruva blushed and fingered her necklace. "Thank you, Your Highness."

Delucia's eyes darted around quickly. "Please don't call me that. At Akarnae no one knows I'm the princess. Here I'm just a normal girl, not Your Highness or Princess Delucia. I'm known as D.C., and you can treat me as someone you've never met before."

Ruva smiled, thinking of how fun it would be to secretly be the princess. You'd almost have two separate lives, one as a royal monarch, and the other as an ordinary schoolgirl.

Ruva looked to Delucia. She was expecting to find a similar smile on the princess' face, but no smile was found. Delucia looked downcast, she was frowning a little, and she didn't attempt to move the hair that had fallen onto her face. Ruva recognised that look. She'd seen it on many of Sela's patients. It was a look that said 'how did I end up in this mess?'

How could she make the princess of Medora feel better? If she said the wrong thing, D.C. would judge her for it. Ruva realised the silence between them was getting long, so she scrambled her mind for anything she could possibly say.

"I-um, err…" stuttered Ruva, hoping to find anything, anything in the entire world that would make her feel less awkward. And then, an idea hit her.

"Which horse do you ride for ES?" she asked.

D.C. visibly brightened. "I ride a bay gelding called Monarch, in this stall here," Delucia opened the stall door closest to her, revealing the horse within.

Ruva stepped forward, saying to the horse, "My name is Ruva Equine Speaker, and my gift is animal speaking. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Monarch's ears flickered when she heard Ruva's name, and she lowered her head in respect. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ruva Equine Speaker," said Monarch. "My name is Monarch Human Steed, and I remember you, even when you were just a foal."

Ruva beamed, her first day at Akarnae just became a thousand times better.


	15. Chapter 15

**15**

The days grew into weeks as Ruva settled in at Akarnae. Her Core Skills class was held on Wednesdays and Fridays, and in them she used only her animal speaking gift. Her teacher, Astrid Marmaduke, had recommended that she keep her second gift a secret, and Ruva was more than happy to do so. Arra's response to her second gift was overwhelming enough, she didn't need twenty other reactions to deal with.

Marmaduke made Ruva attend extra lessons after classes on Wednesday and Friday, to help her learn more of her second gift. Ruva was proud that Marmaduke's lessons were beginning to show results, but it gave her less time to deal with the gigantic pile of homework building up on her desk. To add to her struggles, every Monday and Thursday after ES, Tayla would keep her for two hours after lessons. She was given harder tasks, ones that seemed almost impossible when she heard them.

Ruva always found it hard to go down to the rec room after her extra lessons. She was always exhausted, whether it be mentally or physically. She found it hard to be social, and most people left her alone. Ruva was appreciative that Arra made the effort to talk to her, even when she was tired and barely able to keep her eyes open.

When those times came, Arra gave her chocolate, claiming it could fix anything. Ruva had to agree, Arra's support was exactly what she needed to get through her first fortnight at the academy. Ruva managed to keep it together, until she came to her first PE class in the third week.

It was the start of class, and Finn informed everyone that he would be testing their water survival skills. Ruva gulped. She didn't get along with water, not since she was almost kidnapped. Her kidnapper was dragged into the water, but they never found the body. Ruva tried to ignore the fact that he could still be out there, but it came to mind whenever she saw a body of water.

Finn had made them all change into bathers, and he said he would test their 'basic skills' this lesson. He brought them all out to the middle of the lake, asking them all to jump in. Everyone did so, but Ruva froze. The lake water was dark, surrounding her on all sides. Who knows what could be down there? Ruva saw something move deep below the surface. Was it a fish? Or was it something worse…

"Springden! Get in the water!" Ruva squeaked as Finn shouted at her, then she gulped and stared down at the water. She took a deep breath, readying herself to step in. Who knows how deep the water was, anything could be lurking just out of sight. All of a sudden Ruva was airborne, flying through the air towards the murky water. She was too shocked to do anything other than put her arms out, trying to catch herself on the liquid surface. She hit the water with a sickening smack, sinking down.

Ruva couldn't see anything, but her reflexes kicked in and she kicked towards the surface. Her thoughts were muddled when she was above the surface, but below the silence was deafening. There was no sound, and Ruva's thoughts were quiet too. They told her one word.

Up.

Ruva swum upwards, the surface seeming so far away.

_Up_.

She could see her classmate's shadows, watching as they treaded water.

Up!

Ruva needed air now. She kicked harder, drawing nearer and nearer to the surface.

UP!

Ruva was desperate now, she knew she would only last a few seconds longer.

Finally, Ruva breached the surface. She took in a deep breath, only half of it air. She choked on the water she inhaled, sputtering and coughing. Jaiden jumped into the water, causing another wave to pass over Ruva's head. She started coughing even harder, but nobody seemed to notice. _Someone help me!_ She thought, wanting anyone – _anyone_ – to notice her struggle. When Ruva finally managed to gain control over her breathing, she began to calm down. That is, until she felt something touch her foot.

Ruva shrieked and kicked at whatever touched her, but she felt nothing but water. Finn was telling them to do something, but Ruva was too shocked to notice. Did she imagine it? Ruva treaded water for another minute, nothing happened. Maybe she just thought she felt it, it could be shock or something. Couldn't it?

Something slid against Ruva's foot again, she squeaked and tried to pull her foot away. She _definitely_ didn't imagine it. For a second she couldn't feel it, then it latched onto her foot. Ruva squealed, shaking her foot more and more as she tried to dislodge whatever was on her foot. She took in quick breaths of air, splashing the water crazily around her when, suddenly, she was under.

Ruva started thrashing under the surface, blinded by panic. She screamed underwater until she had nothing left to scream with, but her mind was still screaming. She was blinded by bubbles as she strived for the surface. Whatever had grabbed onto Ruva was gone, but Ruva was fully disoriented. When the bubbles around her finally cleared, Ruva realised she was very deep below the surface.

Too deep.

It was dead silent down there, and colder than Ruva expected. She gave one last attempt at kicking, before realising she would never make it in time. Ruva let herself drift, her blond hair curling around her arm. _Goodbye,_ she thought, addressing everybody and anybody.

Something broke through the surface, darting down towards Ruva. It was a person, and Ruva felt a tiny bit of hope. The person came closer and closer, and they grabbed onto Ruva's arm.

'_I've got you, Ruva.'_ Ruva smiled as Leo pulled her to the surface. She clasped onto Leo and rested her head against his chest, the gesture seeming perfectly normal to Ruva's oxygen-deprived mind.

When they broke through the surface, everything was a blur. It wasn't just because of the water dripping down her face, Ruva needed air, more air than treading water could give her. Ruva wasn't aware that she clung tightly to Leo as he hauled them both out of the water.

She didn't notice Leo asking Finn to take her to the Med Ward.

She didn't notice Finn bringing them back in to shore.

She didn't notice _anything_ because all she could think about was two things:

_I almost died._

_Leo saved my life._

…

Ruva sat on her bed with Arra, who had supplied her with enough chocolate to feed an army. She had just finished explaining everything that had happened to her.

"Ouch. You've had a rough day,"

Ruva laughed at Arra's understatement, something she could only do thanks to Fletcher's pain meds.

"I do have one question, have you thanked Leo yet?"

Ruva sat bolt upright. "No, I haven't!" She started rushing around, shoving chocolate wrappers in the bin and putting on her shoes.

Arra put a hand on Ruva's arm. "Slow down, there's no need to rush. He's probably in the Rec Room." Ruva obliged, trying to calm down her shaky hands. _Talking to Leo_… she got adrenaline just thinking about it.

Ten minutes later, Arra and Ruva were walking through the Rec Room, looking for Leo. He wasn't anywhere to be seen, although Alex said he was probably in his room. They headed back up the stairs, and knocked on Room Four's door. Leo opened it, his face brightening when he saw Ruva.

'_How can I help?'_ Leo looked to Ruva, looking at her in a way that made her feel very uncomfortable.

"We – I uh…" Ruva stumbled over her words. _He's going to fall in love with you,_ her subconscious devilishly added. Ruva went bright red, the words she was trying to say turning into mumbles.

Arra sighed and interrupted Ruva's bumbling. "We came here so Ruva can thank you."

"Um, yeah. Thanks Leo for, uh… stopping me from drowning." Ruva cringed inwardly at her lame gratitude, and Arra groaned out loud.

Leo didn't seem to notice how bad her thank you was. '_You're welcome Ruva, I wouldn't think twice before helping you again._'

Ruva blushed again, and Arra had to drag her away from the door.

As soon as they were in the privacy of their dorm, Arra spoke.

"He likes you."

Ruva blushed again. "No, he doesn't."

Arra ignored her. "And you like him."

"No, I _don't_."

"You like each other."

"Stop it, Arra!"

"You _more_ than like each other."

"Arrabella Squeaker!"

Arra laughed. "Okay, okay. Tell you what, if you give me all the details about Leo I might stop teasing you,"

"I don't feel like I have much of a choice here," Ruva grumbled, but she made Arra sit down and told her about the pink ribbon between Leo and herself.

Once she was done, Arra asked one question. "Can I see this ribbon?"

Ruva nodded and activated her second gift. The familiar ribbons surrounded her, and she wasted no time in grabbing her gift ribbon and holding it against Arra. "Open your eyes," she said.

Arra opened her eyes and gasped at her surroundings. "Whoa."

"See the pink ribbon? That's the one connected to Leo," said Ruva. She pointed out the pink ribbon, and was hit by déjà vu. She was doing the exact same thing her dad had done, all those years ago.

"Can I touch it?" Arra asked, her hand already reaching for the ribbon.

Ruva nodded, but her attention was drawn to a new ribbon. It was pale blue in colour, the same shade as the sky on a summer's day. Ruva had seen blue ribbons before, but never connected to herself.

Ruva reached out to touch it, making sure not to immerse herself fully. As soon as she touched she saw two things. Her kidnapper being dragged underneath the water, and herself getting pulled beneath the surface. Ruva wrapped her arms around herself, the two memories making her shudder. She realised what the blue ribbon was.

It was a ribbon of fear.

Water. Ruva was _afraid_ of _water_. The realisation hit her like a bombshell, and her shock reverberated through all her ribbons.

Arra squeezed her arm. "Are you okay?" Ruva shook her head and deactivated her gift.

"N-No. I saw a-a new ribbon, a ribbon of fear. I'm afraid of water, Arra," Arra hugged Ruva, not saying anything. "It was pale blue, almost a sickening blue," she whispered.

Arra squeezed her once more before letting go. "Everyone has fears, even me. I can't stand heights, even small ones. Just forget it for now, because thinking about it will make you feel worse," Arra didn't continue until Ruva nodded. "You say that Leo is going to fall in love with you, and I agree with you, but that's not all. The pink ribbon is connected to _both_ of you, and I think you'll fall in love with each other."

Ruva went bright red. "You're saying…"

"Yes," Arra interrupted. "You're going to fall head over heels for Leo."


	16. Chapter 16

A week later, Ruva pushed open her dorm door. Her hands were numb from the chilly air, the weather had only gotten colder. She had just returned from her extra ES lesson, and Ruva was more than ready to relax. The food court was well and truly closed, so Ruva had raided the rec room. Her long hair was full of twigs, and she knew Arra would have fun teasing them all out.

When Ruva entered her room, Arra was facing away from her. She was sniffing, and Ruva could tell she had been crying. She didn't notice that Ruva entered, so she crept across the room silently. Ruva put down her pile of food, wincing as the plastic crackled loudly.

Ruva reached for the metal rose on their desk, bringing it over to Arra. Arra had stopped sniffing, but she hadn't turned around. Ruva placed the rose on Arra's lap.

"What's wrong?" Ruva asked, barely louder than a whisper.

Arra picked up the silver rose and smelled it. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong."

Ruva sat down beside her. "That's what you said last time."

Arra took in a deep breath and sighed. "I don't want to tell you, but I don't feel like I have a choice."

"What do you mean?"

"You told me about your parents, it's only fair I tell you about mine."

Ruva grabbed Arra's hand. "You still have a choice. You always will."

"Thank you, Angel, but I'll tell you anyway. You deserve to hear it," Arra looked up at Ruva, and Ruva saw she was still fighting tears. "Turn around, your hair is a mess."

Ruva obliged. She didn't mind if Arra wanted to hide her tears, nobody likes feeling weak. But for Ruva, tears would never be a weakness.

"My father died when I was only a few years old. I can't remember him, but Mum has a picture of him. He looks nice, he's got the same eyes as me. A year after he died Mum remarried. Her new husband… wasn't nice. He had a bad temper, and was alcoholic. Over the years he got worse and worse, until he didn't just yell, he punched…" Arra stopped there, overwhelmed by some memory. Her hands stopped halfway through un-braiding Ruva's hair. Ruva gave Arra's hand a squeeze. Arra seemed to remember where she was.

"Those years were bad. Mum never had the strength to defend against him, and Pip and Tim were too young to do anything. Tim's gift was useful though, he changed the colour of all our water to look like alcohol, and made all the alcohol clear. He was better after that, but Tim couldn't be here every day, especially when he was accepted into Akarnae.

It wasn't the same without Tim, but Pip and I managed okay. Well, we did in the first year. As soon as Tim left for his second year at Akarnae, he grew worse and worse. He blamed everyone for wasting the money he earnt, but spent most of it himself on alcohol. At some points Mum threatened to divorce him, but he threatened to cut off all of our school fees. Mum had no choice.

One time he got into a rage and started punching Mum. He punched and punched and wouldn't stop, no matter how much Pip and I yelled. He was showing no sign of holding back, but then he just stopped. He took in a deep breath and apologised for how he treated Mum. We were all shocked, he never apologised for anything, _ever_. Pip was standing there, an extreme look of concentration on her face. He walked out of the room, calm and relaxed."

Ruva turned around to face her friend. "What? Why did he stop?"

Arra smiled. "Pip activated her _gift_. She was an Empath, a person who can manipulate other's emotions. She saved Mum that day, and me too."

"Wow, what happened after that?"

"Turn around so I can keep doing your hair. I have no idea how you can get so many leaves and twigs in there in just one day."

Ruva smiled and turned back around, keeping her hands busy by fiddling with her Myrox necklace.

"Things got better after that. Whenever he got angry Pip managed to calm him down, but I could see how much it tired her. She went to bed looking exhausted, and she woke up just as tired. I didn't know it at the time, but Pip was overusing her gift. She became moody, flicking from one emotion to another in a matter of seconds. But Kaldoras was always the best time of year, Tim would come home and do his alcohol-water swapping trick, so Pip needed to use her gift less.

Kaldoras wasn't all fun and games though, Tim had nightmares each time he went to bed. He woke up covered in sweat, everything around him coloured blue. He unconsciously turned them blue in his sleep – and it wasn't a nice blue either. It was a light blue that was almost sickening…" Ruva took in a breath. The blue Arra was talking about reminded her of her ribbon of fear.

"He managed to change everything back to its normal colour, but it drained him. Each morning Tim and Pip would talk, sometimes for hours. I could tell Pip used her gift in that time, because she always came out more tired and moodier than before. Every day I would ask what they were doing in there, and they said it was nothing.

Everything was okay for a few years, but then Pip went to Akarnae. Mum and I suffered his unending rage. Mum signed me up for every club, group and activity she could find, wanting me to be out of the house as much as possible. I appreciated what she was doing, but there was no way I'd leave her alone with that brute. I didn't go to a single one, I stood by Mum always. I took all the blows for her, goading him away. I learnt to duck and dodge, and even fight back if I had to. But Mum didn't like that, she didn't want me to turn out like him, so I didn't do it often – That's probably why I'm Delta for Combat, actually…" Arra grew silent again.

"What happened next? How did you go without Tim and Pip?" Ruva turned around, silently begging for her friend to continue.

Arra turned her head away and sighed. "It didn't go well."

"It was the first day of the Kaldoras holidays, and I was awake hours before dawn. I was so excited for Pip and Tim to come home, excited enough that I took some risks. I hid all his alcohol, hoping we could have one happy holiday together as a family," Arra laughed bitterly, but then she grew quiet. "But some people don't want to be a family."

"When he found his supply gone, he flew into an unstoppable rage. He yelled and screamed at Mum, threatening her life, our lives – anything he could think of! But then, I got angry. I was yelling and punching and hitting, telling him to get off Mum. He didn't listen to me. So I told him that I was the one who hid his drinks. He finally forgot about Mum, taking it all out on me. He wanted me to tell him where it was, but I refused.

He pinned me against the ground, clutching his hands around my throat. Mum was yelling at him to stop, and managed to pull him back far enough so I could run away." Arra stopped, taking a deep breath.

"But there's only so far you can run in a cramped, three-storey terrace. I went up onto the roof, planning to run onto the adjoining buildings, but he got there first. He grabbed onto my arm with more force than I thought possible, and… and…"

"What?! What happened next?" Adrenaline was running through Ruva's veins, and she was reminded of the man who tried to kidnap her four years ago.

Arra took in a shaky breath. "He dangled me over the side of the building."

Ruva gasped. "No!"

Arra could do nothing except look down. "Yes."

"Did he… Did he let go?"

Arra took in a deep breath and continued her story.

"Right at that moment, Pip and Tim arrived through a Bubbledoor. I called out to them, and they both looked up. They both gasped, and Pip used her gift to relax him. But, he became too relaxed…"

Ruva looked at Arra with pain filled eyes. "You…He…"

Arra nodded and continued in an emotionless voice. "He became so relaxed that he let go. I fell." Arra took a deep breath before continuing. "Tim ran forward, trying to catch me. But as I fell, I became metal. I activated my gift, and landed on the ground without a scratch."

Ruva exhaled in relief. "Was everything all right after that?"

Arra smiled – it was a thin smile, but still a smile. "I landed on top of Tim, and I was too shocked to deactivate my gift. Pip had to make me feel calm so I could get off Tim. He broke five bones, and we spent the rest of the day in an emergency ward."

"What about him, was he sorry for letting go of you?"

"He didn't care, He didn't even acknowledge it until Pip used her gift to make him feel ashamed and remorseful. I thought things were never going to change, but they did.

The doctor who saw to Tim and reassured us must have realised we were in an abusive situation. He asked lots of questions about whether I was injured, even though I repeatedly told him my gift had stopped me from getting hurt. When he came to our house the following day, I realised he wanted to know whether I had been mistreated.

The doctor came a few days later, and experienced first-hand what our family was like."

Arra giggled, something Ruva had never heard her do. "He stepped in a puddle of water, which Tim had changed to look like alcohol, he tripped on the furniture and landed on our cat! Things got even funnier when Tim came in. He was so shocked at seeing the doctor, he turned the entire room blue!" Arra gave a big grin, the motion contrasting with her blotchy cheeks. She finished re-braiding Ruva's hair and Ruva sat up beside her.

"It was one of the best things I ever saw. Everyone found it funny…" Arra's expression sobered. "Until he came in. He yelled and swore about how 'those kids make so much mess' 'what's this stranger doing in my house?' and 'control your kids! I married you for a reason, and I won't pay for this!'

The doctor was appalled, he immediately tried to usher us out of the building, but we refused. The three of us stood in front of mum, making a clear statement about who we support. Pip tried to calm him down, and Tim told him he was in a fight he'd never win. I hadn't realised until that moment, but Tim was the same height as him, more an adult than a child. He was in his third year of Akarnae, seventeen years old.

I held Mum's hand, giving her the support she needed, Tim stood in front of us, protecting what should've been protected from the start. Pip was standing on the side, trying to calm him down. Sweat was running down her face, and I could tell Pip wasn't making any progress. She always said it was harder to manipulate him when he was drunk – something about emotions being more chaotic when alcohol's involved.

In the end we had to pin him down, so Pip could touch him and make her gift stronger. She managed to calm him down, and he left to go have a sleep. The poor doctor looked traumatised from the whole event, and immediately ushered us through his Bubbledoor.

We came out into Mardenia's Warden Headquarters, where we were shown into a room and had to explain everything that had happened. They said it was an interview, but it felt more like an interrogation…" Ruva shuddered. She had experienced the Warden's so-called interview too.

"Everything was better after that. Mum was divorced from him, and given a supplementary stream of money to pay for our school fees. Mum opened a café, and now she's a successful businesswoman. I got to help out, and I can make a crazy amount of cupcakes…" –Arra looked directly at Ruva– "… Including vegetarian ones."

Arra stayed silent, so Ruva spoke. "It's good everything turned out okay. Not everyone gets a happy ending, and I'm glad that you did."

Arra frowned. "I haven't got my happy ending, I've still got my whole life to live! My happy ending will be when I'm old and wrinkly and I die peacefully in my bed…" Ruva nodded, surprised at Arra's serious statement. "Surrounded by lots of vegetarian cupcakes of course, how else am I to spend years in retirement?"

Ruva snorted. "You won't have any cupcakes left by the time I'm done with you."

Arra smiled, her eyes lighting up in a way Ruva had never seen before.

"Thanks for being there for me, Angel."

"You deserve it, Arra." They both grew silent, so Ruva spoke again, breaking the sombre mood. "Now, tell me about these vegetarian cupcakes."

And Arra did. They spoke long into the night and into the early hours of the morning.


	17. Chapter 17

**17**

Ruva woke up before dawn, shuddering from her latest nightmare. Over the years her nightmares about her parents had slowly decreased, but now they returned with vengeance.

Her subconscious mind had composed the perfect villain. He had the looks of the man who killed her parents, those unforgettable golden eyes. He had a deep voice, the same voice as her kidnapper from the palace had. This particular dream involved the golden eyed man dragging her underwater, whispering terrible things in her ear. Someone would dive down, but they were always too far away.

Ruva stared out her window, noticing the little patches of frost were bigger than before. It was only a week until Kaldoras, and Ruva couldn't wait to see Sela and Corbin. She longed to ride through the palace grounds, to walk through the winter wonderland. Ruva wanted her home.

But, Ruva had another week of classes before her fortnight of freedom.

Ruva shuddered as she remembered her nightmare. '_Your parents died. Everyone you ever love will die._'

She needed a distraction, so Ruva put on her boots and jacket. She was going outside, and not even a hurricane would stop her.

_A hurricane would be a good distraction,_ she mused.

She left her room, silently closing the door behind her.

Her boots crackled on the frosty grass, and Ruva went towards the tree line. If she was at the palace, Ruva would already know where she wanted to go. She knew every nook and cranny in that forest, but this one was different. She recognised some plants, but many were unfamiliar. Ruva stopped when she reached the trees. She was next to a birch, its frosty white branches reached to the sky with skeletal fingers. Which way should she go?

After a while, Ruva decided to follow the natural path to her left.

Ruva had been walking for hours, but it felt like she'd only entered the trees a few minutes ago. When she saw the golden light that heralded day, Ruva turned around and started walking back. She felt refreshed from her morning walk, but Ruva knew she would be tired after class today. Her lessons for the day were Med Sci, Archery, SOSAC and Core Skills. Ruva would have been exhausted if she had ES, especially with all the challenges Tayla made her do afterwards.

The academy was bathed in golden light, and Ruva gasped at the splendour of the sunrise. Akarnae was beautiful, but Ruva missed the palace. Just five more days of school and she'll get to see Sela and Corbin. They holo-called her often enough, but it wasn't the same. She couldn't hug a hologram, she could only talk to it. Talking was difficult for Ruva, she found it hard to find the words for what she wanted to say.

The frost on the ground had melted, and Ruva knew it would soon turn to sludge with all the students walking on it. Ruva went into the dorm building, planning to put away her coat and swap her shoes over. But in the corridor on the fifth floor, she knocked into Jaiden and his caramel haired friend, Tyron. Ruva quickly scuttled past, trying to stay out of their way, but Jaiden grabbed her shoulder.

"Get back here, Angel girl. You haven't apologised for bumping poor Tyron. Look how upset he is."

Tyron didn't even try to look distressed, he just smirked.

Ruva, not wanting to stay near them, said, "Sorry, Tyron." She tried to walk off, but Jaiden kept a firm grip on her arm.

"Hold up, Angel. Tyron has something he wants to say to you."

Tyron stepped closer, his caramel hair glinting under the lights. In a gravelly voice he said, "For someone who is in Delta for PE, you sure do panic near water."

Ruva gulped, not _at all_ liking where the conversation was going.

"I saw you splashing about like a headless chook in the water, and I thought 'hey, I should teach you how to swim.' So I grabbed your ankle and pulled you down to the bottom."

Ruva took in a stuttered breath, it wasn't some underwater beast that had grabbed her, but _Tyron_.

"I _was_ going to teach you how to swim, but it was so funny watching your pathetic efforts, I couldn't stop laughing!" Tyron was grinning like a predator at its prey.

Ruva started to shake. She had almost _drowned_ because he found it too _funny_ to pull her up. She pulled against Jaiden's grip, but he was unrelenting.

Jaiden smirked at her attempt to escape his hold, he knew he had hit a sore spot. "I guess it's hard for Tyron to remember that people have to hold their breath underwater, especially when his gift is water breathing."

Ruva's muscles locked up. She needed to move, get away, _anything_.

And then, her saviour came.

Arra came down the hallway, her hands balled into fists. "Back off, Jaiden. Leave Ruva alone." Arra didn't yell, but her words were loud enough to convey the message.

Ruva felt Jaiden stiffen at the sight of her, and he immediately let go of her. She stumbled a few steps back, putting a safe distance between them.

"Hi, Arrabella," said Jaiden. "Don't worry, we were just… _talking_ with Ruva, weren't we, Tyron?"

Tyron nodded enthusiastically, his predatory grin nowhere to be seen. "In fact," he said. "We were just going now."

The two of them took off down the corridor, running into Room Six and shutting the door behind them.

Arra frowned as they left, but then she turned to Ruva, her eyes softening. "Are you okay?"

Ruva fingered her necklace, then shook her head. "No. He – Tyron's gift… Pulled me under… Laughing… Too deep…" Her breathing became quicker, and she was unable to finish.

Arra squeezed her arm, saying, "Come on, I need to fix your hair in our room."

Ruva nodded, letting Arra bring her down the hallway towards their room.

But before they made it to Room Ten, Room Six's door flew open, whacking Ruva in the nose. Jaiden and Tyron ran out snickering, disappearing before Arra could act.

Tears pricked Ruva's eyes, and she placed a hand over her nose.

"Ouch, that looked like it hurt. Let me see it," said Arra.

Ruva gave a thin smile. "I'm fine." Ruva lowered her hand, only for blood to start trickling out.

Arra winced when she realised how injured she was. "Let's take you down to see Fletcher, it won't take too long."

Ruva was about to argue that she was fine, but she felt a sharp pang in her nose. "Yeah, let's go."

The Med Ward was quiet and peaceful in the morning, and Fletcher was having his coffee break. Ruva cringed as their wet and grassy boots made marks on the sterile floor.

"Just as I sat down," Fletcher sighed. "How can I help you, girls?"

Arra laughed awkwardly, trying to stall. Her eyes darted to Ruva and she shook her head. Telling Fletcher what had happened would only make it worse. After a moment of silence, she said, "I – uh, accidentally slammed a door into Ruva's face." Arra laughed again, the sound unnaturally high.

"Now I've got a nose bleed," added Ruva.

Fletcher eyed them for a second, before saying, "Okay. I'll just give you a check for concussion, and then you can have a pain reliever." Ruva nodded and sat on the nearest bed.

She sat there awkwardly as Fletcher poked and prodded her, when she noticed something on the opposite side of the ward.

"What's that?" She asked, pointing at a handwritten sign sitting above a bed.

Fletcher gave an easy chuckle. "It's a sign saying 'Alex's bed', Alex is a third year, and about as accident prone as they get. I see her here almost every day, and one of the third years thought it would be a good joke to stick up a sign." Ruva smiled, easily imagining Alex's face when she first saw the sign.

Alexandra Jennings – or Alex, as she preferred – always seemed a little strange to Ruva. She was a third year transfer student, and seemed very out of place at Akarnae. Ruva had heard rumours that she was in Epsilon for Combat and ES, but she had never ridden a horse or done any offensive fighting.

Ruva didn't know about Combat, but Alex was definitely a natural rider. She had no idea how to saddle up her horse, but she picked up the skill easily enough. She rode with natural talent, reminding Ruva of her own skills when she started riding, – even _if_ she started at seven. Ruva was in her class for Archery, PE and ES. No one knew where Alex was from, but Ruva had to admit it, Alex was hilarious.

Just then, the doors burst open. Alex came limping in, her face red with embarrassment.

Fletcher looked up. "Hello there, Alex. I was wondering when you would turn up."

Alex limped over to Fletcher. "It's nice to see you too, Fletcher. It feels like only yesterday when I last saw you last."

Fletcher's lip twitched. "If I remember correctly, it _was_ yesterday."

A wry smile covered Alex's face. "You know me too well, Fletcher."

Fletcher just rolled his eyes. "Make yourself comfortable, Alex, I'll just be a minute more." –Fletcher turned to Ruva– "Luckily, there's no sign of concussion. I'll just give you a vial of pain relief then you can go. For the future, just remember," –Fletcher eyed Arra– "to open doors carefully."

…

It was late at night, and Ruva had a bad headache. Marmaduke had kept her for two hours after class to research her gift. If there was one thing Ruva hated, it was research. Why should she read paragraph after paragraph when she could experience things?

Ruva had always struggled with reading, her parents had never taught her how. When Sela and Corbin found out she couldn't read, they almost had a heart attack. Ruva didn't see what the big deal was, it was just a bunch of squiggly lines. She didn't understand why she had to learn. She was signed up for lessons with Princess Delucia's tutor, Master Ying. But even after she learnt the basics, she didn't understand what everyone was raving about.

Ruva walked towards her dorm door, carefully keeping her arm out in case it suddenly flew open. Once she was inside her dorm, she found out that Arra was already asleep. Ruva felt her comTCD buzz, and she pulled it out. She had a holo-message from Sela and Corbin. Ruva pressed it, and the pre-recorded message came to life.

"Hi, Ruva. We hope you're having fun at Akarnae." Both Sela and Corbin wore identical fake smiles, and Ruva could tell that they both missed her.

As if Corbin heard Ruva's thoughts, he said "We really miss you Ruva, and we can't wait to see you in the Kaldoras holidays."

Even as a hologram, Ruva could see Corbin's sadness. It was made more apparent when Sela gently touched Corbin's arm.

"We'll see you soon, Ruva. Call us if you get the chance!" The message ended there, and the room suddenly fell dark. Ruva blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dark room. She kept blinking, and tears started to fall. Ruva stopped blinking, thinking she was over-blinking, if that was a thing.

But the tears continued to fall. Ruva felt a tightness in her throat, and she realised she missed them. She missed Corbin's easy smiles and Sela's practicality. She missed walking through the palace grounds and the stables. She missed helping Sela with patients, racing Corbin on horseback.

She missed _home_, Ruva realised.

And so Ruva lay down in her bed, tears silently flowing down her face.


	18. Chapter 18

**18**

The following morning, Ruva was in the food court with Arra, Harry and Leo. She had trouble concentrating on what everyone was saying, and her mind kept drifting off.

"What's wrong, Ruva? Did you stay up too late?" Arra asked.

Ruva blinked, forcing herself back to the present moment. "Yes, – um…" Ruva tried to think of an excuse for why she was so tired. After um-ing and stuttering for what seemed like hours, Ruva relented and told the truth. "I miss the palace."

Arra gave a sad smile, and Ruva noticed bags under her eyes. "I know what you mean. Everything's so fun and tiring here, but I miss Mum and the café. It'll be great to go home for a bit." Arra suddenly smiled, the expression lightening her whole face. "Why don't you come over to us in the holidays? You could try some food and we could mess around together," –Arra turned to everyone at the table– "You can all come!"

Harry grinned. "That sounds great! I would never turn down free food!"

Leo gave a relaxing smile. '_I'll come too. It'll be nice to spend some more time with you all,'_ he said, looking more at Ruva than anyone else.

There was silence at the table, until Arra said, "Wow Leo, that was a really clear projection. I could hear you easily."

Leo blushed at Arra's praise, a gesture that flustered Ruva more than she liked. _'Harry's been helping me practice,_' he said.

"Not by choice," Harry grumbled, his mouth still full of food. Everyone turned to him as he swallowed his food. "At first I said I would be happy to help, but I didn't realise what 'helping' meant. Leo's been practising for half an hour every day, saying the same three sentences over and over until he gets them clear," Harry groaned at the thought, causing them all to laugh. "At one point he started reading classic poetry," Harry shuddered, "Worst day of my life. And if I hear one more poem by E. Flanders, I swear…" Ruva didn't hear whatever else Harry said, everyone was laughing too hard.

…

It was finally Friday afternoon, and Ruva was ready for her Kaldoras break. She had her bag packed, Bubbler vial ready, all she needed to do was say her goodbyes. The first person she said goodbye to was Harry.

"Goodbye Harry…" Ruva yet again struggled for words. "I… hope you enjoy your holidays." Ruva gave him a quick hug before moving on to the next person.

Ruva turned to Arra. But before Ruva could say anything, Arra gave her a great big bear hug. "I'll miss you, Angel," she whispered in Ruva's ear. Arra then pulled back, "Remember, New Year's Eve at Mum's café."

Ruva gave a big smile. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

The last person to say goodbye to was Leo. When Ruva walked up to him, she felt awkward about hugging him. But before she could hesitate Leo wrapped his arms around her. Ruva smiled at the comfort Leo's embrace brought her, an embrace that lasted a tad longer than all the other.

When Leo finally let go, he looked up to Ruva's eyes and gave a slight smile. '_It'll be really different without any of you around. I'll be back to my crowded house, with eight siblings who barely notice me._'

Ruva shook her head. "They'll notice you now, Leo. Your gift is strong enough to talk to all eight of them at once."

Leo shook his head, eyes on the ground. '_They still won't notice me, I'm the middle child. Four older siblings and four younger ones._'

Ruva smiled, "I guess there's only one way to find out."

Leo turned around and smashed his Bubbler vial. Ruva saw the insecurity in his eyes. _'Goodbye, Ruva.'_

Ruva was unable to speak, overwhelmed by the vulnerability in Leo's eyes. Leo took one final look at her, then stepped through the Bubbledoor. Ruva exhaled, not realising she had been holding her breath. Ruva brought out her own bubbler vial and was about to smash it. But something made her stop. She didn't really want to leave Akarnae, but at the same time indecision was clawing at her. She wanted to be at the palace _and_ she wanted to be at the academy.

Arra squeezed Ruva's hand, causing her to blink. "Don't want to leave?"

Ruva was surprised at how well Arra had read her, so she nodded quickly.

Arra gave a short huff. "I feel the same way. I love seeing Mum, Pip and Tim, but our family isn't exactly full of happy memories. I still find little things that remind me of what our lives used to be like, still get nightmares…"

"It would be so much easier to stay here, where everything and everyone seems so happy," –Arra looked Ruva in the eyes– "But that's not how things work. We make new relationships wherever we go, but the old ones are just as important. It would be selfish for you to stay here, disappointing those who love you and are waiting for you. Embrace what you have, because some day – when you're least expecting it, – it will be gone." Arra embraced Ruva one final time, and whispered for Ruva's ears alone. "I'll be there, Angel. I'll support you in whatever choices you make," –Arra pulled Ruva back and looked her in the eye. – "I promise."

Arra's words echoed through Ruva's mind as she stepped through the Bubbledoor, hurtling at a million miles an hour through to the palace.

…

Ruva lay on her bed, feeling more comfortable than she'd ever been. Corbin and Sela had been so excited to see her, and Ruva even noticed tears in Corbin's eyes. Ruva was just as excited to see them, beaming from ear to ear and cartwheeling down the palace corridors. Ruva made it to their rooms much faster than Sela and Corbin, and she didn't have the patience to wait for their key. Ruva climbed in through the window, running around their rooms while marvelling it was exactly the way she remembered it – exactly the way she _liked_ it. – By the time Corbin and Sela made it to Ruva's room, Ruva was flopped on the bed, exhausted from all her running about. Sela had just kissed her on the head, saying she had to tend to a few patients.

Ruva had immediately sat up, asking if she could come, just like she used to. Sela agreed, and Ruva had spent the rest of the afternoon with her adoptive mother.

That night, Ruva lay in bed with a full belly – and her favourite pyjamas – thinking about everything she had. Just like Arra said, she embraced everything she had. Ruva was eternally grateful for everything Sela and Corbin had given her, being parents as perfect as her real ones had been.

…

Ruva's days fell into a pattern. Each morning after breakfast, she would go with Corbin to the stables and ride with whoever was there. Ruva was disappointed to learn that Princess Delucia – or D.C. – was staying at the academy for the holidays. Ruva had come to enjoy the princess's company in ES, it was a shame they couldn't ride together here.

Ruva's afternoons were spent with Sela, treating her patients and helping administering medicines. Sela was delighted by some of Ruva's newfound knowledge, she had learnt _some_ things in Professor Luranda's Medical Science class. Ruva liked treating patients, and she especially liked doing first aid. Ruva could help people, heal them, even prevent death. And if she could prevent death, she could stop families – families like _Ruva's_ – from being torn apart, then everything would be worth it.

Tonight it was Kaldoras Eve, and Ruva enjoyed the tradition of placing flowers around the house. Every surface had at least one vase of flowers, and a pleasant scent drifted around their rooms. Ruva inhaled the smell, and it reminded Ruva of the perfume her mum used to wear. Wild and sweet, with a hint of roses. Ruva took in a deep breath, and tried to picture her mum, then she gasped. No matter how hard she tried, Ruva couldn't see her mum – couldn't _remember_ her own _mother_.

Ruva ran into her room and curled up on her bed. She gripped her fingers tight around her Myrox necklace, tight enough to hurt. Ruva tried to remember everything she could about her mum.

"Mum's name is Jacinta Springden," she whispered. Ruva listed everything she remembered about her mum. "Her gift was summoning wind. Mum loved to paint. She went to Akarnae with dad. Mum taught me to make flower crowns. Mum loved to dance. We would dance together. We had a dog called…" Ruva struggled to remember her dog's name. "Bruno, Ben, Bailey… Basil. We had a dog called Basil."

Ruva whispered more and more, not just about her mum, but about her dad, about Basil, about what her life had been. Tears fell down her face, first slowly, then faster and faster. By the time she heard Sela getting home, there was a large wet patch on her pillow. But Ruva ignored Sela, she just grabbed the vase nearest to her and sniffed at the flowers. She couldn't smell any of them, - her nose was blocked after crying – but the gesture was enough.

When Sela finally found her, she hadn't asked any questions, just held Ruva and soothed her. When she was calm, Sela asked her why she was upset. With her voice no louder than a whisper, she told Sela everything. Every little detail she remembered about her family, she shared it all. And, just as she'd felt with Arra, telling Sela about her parents made them feel more real.

It was late at night by the time she was finished, and Sela kissed her goodnight.

"Just remember," she whispered in Ruva's ear, "Nothing is ever truly lost, you just need to look harder."

Sela's words echoed in Ruva's mind long after she fell asleep.

…

Ruva woke up on Kaldoras with a smile on her face. Today was one of the most exciting days at the palace, with visitors coming from all over for the Kaldoras Ball tonight. Around lunch time everyone would go to the lake for ice skating, and Corbin was tasked with getting all the guests to and from the lake. It was half an hour's ride from the palace, and much more accessible by bubbledoor, but all the guests enjoyed the novelty of it. Last year Ruva got to help, Dancer was strapped up to a carriage to carry the guests and Ruva got to ride her.

Ruva opened her eyes and gasped at her room. She already knew what was going to happen in the morning, the tradition of flowers being replaced with gifts. Usually each vase of flowers would be replaced with sweets or toys, but that wasn't what Ruva saw. All the flowers and vases had disappeared, but they were replaced with photos. Paper photos, not holographic ones like she had grown used to.

At first, Ruva didn't know who was in the photos, not until she looked closer. When she did realise, she started to cry.

Every photo showed her mum and dad.

Ruva cried, not the hard gut-wrenching sobs from last night, but silent tears that didn't end. Ruva climbed out of her bed, and grabbed the photo closest to her, on her bedside table. It was a photo from when Jacinta and Edward were at Akarnae. A smile touched Ruva's lips as she saw her father had braces, but it was replaced with tears when she realised how similar she looked to her mother.

Ruva got out of her bed and walked around the room, looking at every photo before holding them close to her heart. She saw glimpses of her parent's life, all that they'd done and everywhere they'd been. She saw her parents on mountains, in cities, on boats and in deserts. Ruva became prouder and prouder of her parents, and she saw how alike she was to them. Her parents loved exploring too. Her mum loved to dance, her dad loved animals and went foraging for food, too.

She picked up every photo she found, not daring to put any down. Her arms grew fuller and fuller, each photo showing little pieces of their lives.

When Ruva got to her bedroom door, she saw one final photo. Edward and Jacinta holding a blond haired baby. Holding _Ruva_.

With no tears left to shed, Ruva gave a wobbly smile and opened the door. When she saw what awaited in the lounge room, Ruva gasped. The table in the centre of the room was covered in gifts, and her parents sat on either couch. Ruva beamed, today was going to be the best Kaldoras yet.

…

That evening, Ruva, Corbin and Sela arrived back in their rooms. Ruva's cheeks were flushed from the freezing weather, and she regretted not wearing a beanie. The three of them had spent the second half of the day at the frozen lake. Ruva had shipped the king's guests over to the lake with Corbin, while Sela was on standby in case anyone got injured. The important guests had marvelled at Ruva's hair and ability to ride bareback. A few guests were even shocked at how little Ruva was wearing. She only wore three layers, a shirt, a jumper and a jacket, which seemed outrageous to them. Ruva didn't try to explain that she didn't feel cold, or that Dancer was keeping her warm. The city people wouldn't understand it, anyway.

Ruva was exhausted, and was about to go to sleep when Corbin and Sela urged her into their room.

"We've got one more present for you, Ruva," said Corbin, his excitement clear.

"Close your eyes," said Sela, her own eyes lighting up.

Ruva closed her eyes and listened to what her adoptive parents were doing. She heard crinkling as something was pulled out of a bag, and a thump as something heavy was put on the bed in front of her.

"Are you ready, Ruva? Open your eyes!"

Ruva opened her eyes and stared at her final gift. It was a heavy leather-bound book, its orientation reminding her of a picture book. Ruva scrunched her nose, wondering why Corbin and Sela got her a book when they knew she didn't like reading.

When Corbin saw Ruva's face, he laughed.

Sela quickly shushed him. "Don't you know what it is?" asked Sela. When Ruva shook her head a dazzling sparkle appeared in Sela's eye. "Why don't you take a look?"

When Ruva opened the book she smiled. It was a photo album, full of pictures of her parents. Ruva flicked through the photos, and stopped on a page with the photo of her parents holding her. The rest of the page was blank, and Ruva looked up to Sela and Corbin. "Where did you find all these photos?" she asked, her voice strained.

It was Sela who answered her. "I went to the Archives and looked up your parents, this is every photo of them on the database. I found a place to print them out, and Corbin put them in an album for you. Do you like it?"

Ruva smiled. "I… It's – um –" When her words failed her Ruva leaned forward and hugged them both, letting her actions speak for themselves. Corbin and Sela hugged her back, and Ruva couldn't agree more with what she had thought that morning.

Today was the best Kaldoras ever, and nothing in the world could change that.


	19. Chapter 19

**19**

Ruva got up bright and early, today she was going to Arra's house. Since she had never seen the house before, Arra had to send her a pre-programmed bubbledoor, otherwise she would never get there. Ruva was rugged up well, the weather had only gotten colder during the week. Ruva had already packed overnight bag, already said goodbye to Sela and Corbin, and was now walking to the receiving room, the only part of the palace that bubbledoors worked. Once she entered the room, Ruva smashed her bubbler vial, leaving the palace far behind her. Ruva was flung at a million miles an hour, but she couldn't help but feel nervous. Tonight was her first ever sleepover.

When Ruva was flung out of the bubbledoor, she didn't see a house, she saw a café. Arra's mum's café, if the bubbler had brought her to the right place. Ruva looked around again, Arra was nowhere to be found. Ruva took in a deep breath, and walked into the building.

Inside it was warm and cosy, the bubbling chatter of many people flowing over Ruva. A large counter ran alongside two walls of the room, and large windows covered the wall to Ruva's right. Ruva slowly walked through the café, trying to find Arra. Ruva walked another lap of the café, thinking she might have missed Arra.

A hand clamped down on Ruva's shoulder, making her jump. She spun around to see a short girl with owlish eyes and mousey brown hair.

"Are you looking for someone?" the girl asked.

Ruva nodded, realising the girl was a waitress. "I'm looking for Arra. Arra Squeaker,"

The waitress smiled. "You must be Ruva," she said, holding out her hand. "I'm Pipsqueak, Arra's older sister,"

Ruva shook Pipsqueak's hand, realising that she had the same eyes and hair as Arra's. But that was where the similarities ended, Arra was a head taller than her older sister, and her skin was slightly darker.

"Arra's in the kitchen, she's been waiting for you and the others for hours."

Ruva nodded slightly, unsure if she should wait for the boys.

Pipsqueak noticed her hesitancy. "Go on, behind the counter and through the first door. I'll send in the others when they arrive," Ruva forced her feet to move in the right direction. She crossed past the tables filled with people, all of them eating delicious-looking food. Behind the counter, Ruva became overwhelmed by the smells coming from the kitchen. Following her nose, Ruva went through the door and into a warm, slightly crowded kitchen. Arra was standing in front of the most decadent cake Ruva had ever seen.

It was a pale white cake, with three layers of chocolatey cream. The same chocolatey cream sat in little tufts on top of the cake. Delicate whirls covered the side of the cake, and Arra was now adding tiny orange flowers to the swirls. Arra was so concentrated on her craft, she hadn't noticed Ruva entering. She also didn't notice the brown frosting smeared on her cheek, as good as her concentration was.

Arra placed one more orange flower, then looked up. She burst into a smile as she saw Ruva. "Hi, Angel. Was your Kaldoras good?"

Ruva smiled, the nerves she'd felt up to this moment instantly melting away. "It was great. I got to go ice skating on the lake with all the fancy palace people."

Arra smirked. "I bet you left them in the dust."

It was true, Ruva had much more talent than any of the palace guests. While they glided around the edge of the lake, Ruva did various tricks in the middle. At one point she realised that almost everyone was watching her, it distracted her, and she ended up falling over. Gasps and distressed cries filled Ruva's ears, but she just kept on skating.

Ruva told Arra this story while she put the finishing touches on the cake. Once she was done, she slid it onto a decorative silver plate, and she carried it out of the kitchen and into the display window.

"When do you think the boys will be here?" asked Arra.

Ruva shrugged. "I haven't heard anything."

The bell tinkled, and Leo and Harry walked in.

Arra snorted. "About time, you guys, I thought I would have to send a search party." Despite her impatient words, Arra walked over and hugged them both. Ruva followed suit, but she didn't let her eyes linger too long on Leo.

The boy's attention was quickly drawn to the decadent cake on display, giving Ruva the chance to ask Arra something. "Where's your room? Do you have a bedroom to yourself?"

Arra smiled. "It will be easier to show you," then, to Harry and Leo, she said "Come on, I'm going to show you my room."

"Ugh," groaned Harry. "I'm not ready to go yet! I still need a few hours to admire this cake properly, let alone eat it!" Harry looked at the cake and sighed. "Whoever made this is a goddess."

Arra cleared her throat pointedly.

Harry blinked, before shock washed over him. "_You_ made this cake?!"

Arra gave an unimpressed nod.

Harry laughed. "Then I apologise sincerely for not following your commands, Mighty Goddess. Please refrain from smiting me with your almighty cooking power."

Ruva and Leo started laughing, and to Arra's credit, all she did was roll her eyes.

Arra's room was cosy, with a double bed taking up most of the space. Behind the bed there was a large window that covered most of the wall. To Ruva's right there was a wardrobe, and to the left there was a small desk.

Once they were all sitting down, Harry spoke up. "You know what? I think our friendship group needs a name."

Arra looked up from the bed. "What do you suggest?"

Harry gave an awkward smile. "I don't know, maybe something like Harry and the Messed-Up Monsters."

The response to this name was unanimous, and Arra punched Harry's shoulder hard enough that Ruva could still see the mark.

After a few minutes, Harry suddenly perked up. "Hey I know! We can be called The Shorties!"

The room was silent, all of us staring at Harry in question. Noticing everyone's gaze, Harry explained himself. "I just realised that – besides from Leo – all of us are pretty short. So that's where I came up with…" –Harry created a drumroll on his knees– "The Shorties!"

When they all remained silent Harry sighed and slumped, mumbling something about a tough crowd.

…

The four of them spent a few hours chatting in the bedroom, until they were drawn downstairs by their hunger – well, Harry's hunger. In the café they feasted on gourmet pizza. They all called for seconds – and thirds and fourths in Harry's case. – It was the best meal Ruva had in ages.

In the late afternoon, Arra invited them all into the kitchen, where they spent an hour decorating cupcakes. Harry spent more time eating than decorating, but he still complimented them all highly on their cupcake designs.

When it started getting dark, everyone put on their jumpers and jackets. Mardenia always had fireworks on New Year's Eve, and Ruva could not wait to see them. They decked out on the roof of the terrace, covering the frosty ground with blankets. Arra had made gourmet popcorn, something Ruva didn't know was possible until she tasted it. They waited on the roof, snacking on steamy popcorn as they waited for the fireworks. Harry ate a whole bucketful of popcorn, and Ruva wondered how he didn't burst.

Arra checked the time on her new comTCD. "Five minutes to go, everyone."

Ruva heard the city around her slowly hush, it seemed as the air around them held its breath. They waited in silent anticipation. When there was surely – _surely_ – only one minute left, Harry's belly let out a groan. All of them giggled, the tense atmosphere suddenly disappearing.

"How can you possibly want _more_ food?" asked Arra.

Harry tried not to laugh. "Well, I'm not hungry for _more_ food. My stomach is grumbling because it wants – uh, – _less_ food," An awkward silence enveloped them, none of them understanding what Harry was trying to say. Harry cleared his throat. "What I meant to say was, I need to get to a toilet, before I throw up, wet myself or… worse." There was a moment of silence before they all burst into giggles.

Harry suddenly jumped up. "I need to go, and I need to go _now_," Harry started running towards the ladder. "Arra! Where's your toilet?!"

Arra got up. "I need to show him where the bathroom is, or we'll have a major disaster." She ran after Harry.

When they finished giggling, Leo wrapped his arm around her, and Ruva leant her head against him. Without knowing why, Ruva activated her second gift. The ribbons surrounding her gave her comfort, and she didn't realise she was sharing them until she heard Leo's gasp.

'_Is this… Is this your gift?'_ asked Leo.

Ruva didn't know what to say.

'_But… your gift was – _is_ – animal speaking. How is this possible?'_

Ruva didn't have the words that Leo needed, so she showed him instead. Ruva picked up his hand and made it touch her green gift ribbon. They both became absorbed into a memory.

_I watch Jacinta put our child to bed. Sweet Ruva, she doesn't deserve any of this._

Ruva gasps as she realises who the memory shows. She was looking through the eyes of Edward Springden, her late father. Ruva's breathing became faster, and she knew she was spiralling into a panic attack.

But then Leo clasped her hand, and Ruva felt herself calm down.

'_Who are these people?_' asked Leo. '_Is that little girl you?_'

Ruva gave the smallest nod, saying, "Yes, and these were my parents."

Leo squeezed Ruva's hand once more, and they continued to watch the memory play out.

_My head is getting sore already, and I know I won't be able to sleep tonight. The only way I could keep her safe was by connecting her to me, and holding that connection for as long as I can. _

_The Hyroa is still on the edge of our camp, unmoving as a boulder. I can't even hear it breathe, and that's what scares me._

Ruva took in a stuttered breath, now knowing exactly what this memory would show. Leo asked what was wrong, but she shushed him, needing to know what happens next.

_Someone comes out of the woods to our left. The Hyroa growls, and leaps at the person. I don't see what happens next, but the Hyroa lets out a roar, an injured roar. The person stabs the Hyroa, and it lets out one desperate roar before it dies._

_I feel a twang from my gift, and I know that Ruva is awake. I see her tiny head peak out of the tent, her face crinkled in worry. I will her to go back inside, but she stays there, watching._

_The man turns towards us. His beautiful, horrible eyes light up in recognition. _

_Aven Dalmarta._

_Aven Dalmarta stands in front of us, holding his legendary blade, Ae'nara. We learnt his secret years ago, and so far have managed to avoid him. But here he stands, twenty years later. Aven moves faster than I can follow, and then he is holding the blade against Jacinta's neck. He slowly presses the blade, and blood flows down her neck. _

_I stop, rigidly still, as I watch my wife mouth four words. "I… Don't… Regret… Anything…" _

_I dive for Jacinta, and he stabs me faster than my human sight can follow. I feel Ruva's emotions, the shock and distress running through her._

_I am covered in blood. My blood, my wife's blood. I feel myself rising upwards, and I know I am dying. But then, I feel a tug. My gift is still connected to Ruva, and it wants to come with me. With everything I have left, I shove my last memories and my gift towards Ruva, severing it from myself._

_I will die, but my gift will live onwards._

Ruva gasped, the sound echoing around them. Her control wavered, and the ribbons around her disappeared. Ruva's breathing was becoming uneven, and little dots filled her vision.

_What she just saw_…

Leo turned Ruva's head so that it faced him. '_Did you really see your parents die?_' Ruva could see the tears in Leo's chocolate-brown eyes.

"Y-Y-Yes. I did. I saw it all."

Leo brushed a strand of golden from her face, his hand lingering on her cheek. '_I wish I was there to support you._'

"It happened a long time ago. I'm… _okay_ with it now," As Ruva spoke, an unavoidable wave of tiredness washed over her. She was barely able to keep her eyes open, so she quickly spoke, "I've overused my gift, and…" –Ruva yawned– "and I'm going to fall asleep," The last part of her speech was slurred, and she now leaned fully on Leo.

The fireworks started, the bright colours reflecting in Leo's eyes. Ruva shut her own eyes, the bangs from the fireworks like a distorted lullaby.

'_Sleep well._'

Leo smiled as he looked at Ruva's peaceful face. The fireworks in the distance splashed colours over her golden-blond hair. The yellow fireworks made Ruva's hair look like it was made from solid gold, and Leo liked that best of all. The scent of peaches wafted around her, and Leo couldn't help but relish it.

Ruva's face scrunched slightly, and Leo knew she was having a dream. He shuddered as he remembered all that Ruva had been through, she witnessed both of her parents die at such a young age. Leo knew he could never face such challenges and turn out okay, and he admired Ruva's strength.

Ruva started shivering from the cold, and Leo realised it was time to bring her inside. He swept her into his arms, and started carrying her to the ladder. Ruva smiled in her sleep, she leant her head against Leo's chest. Electricity thrummed through Leo's veins, she hadn't done this since he pulled her out of the lake. He walked down the stairs, trying not to jostle Ruva, and carried her to Arra's room. Leo laid Ruva down on the bed, but when he tried to pull away Ruva protested. Her arms reached around, trying to find Leo, and she started making a whimpering noise that reminded him of his younger sister.

Leo reached for her hand, her fingers were long and thin. He could feel callouses from her riding, and the rough parts she used for climbing trees. Her fingers felt up his arm, and brushed across his face. He let Ruva's fingers follow the crease lines on his face, her delicate hand ending up on his lips. Leo placed a kiss on her hand, before gently putting it down. She didn't protest, and Leo left without a sound.

…

Ruva woke up, wondering how she got into Arra's bedroom. Arra was leaning against the wall, eating a delicious looking cupcake.

"Morning, Angel, enjoy your beauty sleep?"

Ruva sat up, belatedly noticing the sun streaming through the window. "What time is it?"

Arra smirked, "It's eleven-thirty, you slept like the dead last night. Harry and Leo have already left."

Ruva remembered what happened with Leo, and her face slowly turned red. Arra noticed her expression. "I noticed you looked pretty cosy with Leo last night, anything I might find… _interesting_?" Arra waggled her eyebrows.

"Nothing," said Ruva quickly.

"Change into your clothes so we can have some lunch, your parents are waiting for you to come home," Arra walked out of the door and down the hallway, "I'll see you in the kitchen!" she called. Ruva got up and quickly got changed, she wanted to savour this time with Arra.

An hour later, Ruva was full and ready to go back to the palace, she waved goodbye to Arra and stepped through the bubbledoor. This was the last weekend of the holidays, before she was back to Akarnae.

Back to her friends,

Back to Leo.


	20. Chapter 20

**20**

Ruva rejoiced going back to the academy, even if not much had changed. The main change that Ruva experienced after returning from her holidays was her Species Distinction class. They had missed out on the first semester due to the teacher, Varin, who had contracted a contagious disease. After Ruva's first lesson, she knew it was her favourite subject. Varin was delighted by her gift, and let her communicate with whatever species they were learning about. This developed her gift more than any exercises that Marmaduke set her, and she enjoyed the challenge of speaking to a new species every week.

Ruva began to find out more about her gift, realising why she found different species harder or easier to talk to. The more intelligent species had more expressions and body language, which in turn made it harder for Ruva to understand and communicate. So far, the most difficult being to understand was a Flip. The Flip, whose name was Tork, was very diplomatic. He could speak the human tongue, and was very patient with Ruva and her questions. Tork would repeat himself slowly in his own language, giving Ruva the time to translate. She found hard to mimic the humming noise that Flips used to communicate, and ended up with a sore throat.

In Core Skills, Marmaduke had her working extra hard. While she had spent the last semester interpreting ribbons, Marmaduke wanted Ruva putting all her efforts into sharing others with her gift. Ruva would have share her gift with her Core Skills teacher for the whole lesson, something that exhausted Ruva day after day. But her endurance built up, and eventually she found she could hold Marmaduke and keep her gift steady at the same time. After that she made Ruva hold two people to her gift, then three. Some days she would get bad headaches, but on most she could hold as many as three people to her gift, or use it by herself for an hour.

…

A week before exams, Tayla introduced her to a new saddle. It was different to a normal saddle, with a bar in the centre for holding onto. It took Ruva about an hour to adjust to the saddle, and not just because she usually rode bareback. She kept on leaning into the bar, giving herself a nasty bruise. Tayla kept having to adjust her position, making her lean back instead of forwards. When she finally got the hang of it, Tayla let her ride bareback, saying she needed a break. She set Ruva out on a long and thin route through the forest. The path was so unmarked that she had to dodge low tree branches, but Ruva felt as if she could keep going forever.

When she and Dancer cleared a particularly high log, they both whinnied as loud as they could. Ruva couldn't feel her hands, and her hair kept whipping her face, but she barely noticed. Ruva suddenly ducked, just avoiding a tree branch. She needed to pay attention to her route, or she could miss one of her turn-offs. After about an hour of riding, Ruva and Dancer made a particularly tight turn, and the path widened out before them. Ruva realised she was back on the main path, the one they used for most ES lessons.

Ruva sat back and adjusted her grip, easing Dancer back into a canter. Something else broke through the trees behind them, Ruva glanced back and saw another horse galloping towards them. It was the same breed as Dancer, and by the looks of its mane, it was wild. It drew level with them, matching Dancer's pace.

Ruva examined the horse more closely. "Moonrunner?!"

The equine jolted when Ruva made the horse-like noise. It then examined her closely, before crying out. "Ruva!"

Moonrunner stopped, and Ruva guided Dancer around so that they were next to each other. She then jumped down, running straight to Moonrunner. She hugged the wild horse's flank. "Moonrunner!"

It was _Moonrunner_, the wild horse who Ruva used to ride when she was with her parents. She thought that she would never see her again, but here they were, four years later.

Moonrunner gave an equine laugh. "I doth hardly believe it! You hath grown so much, Ruva Equine Speaker. But I see some things hath not changed," Moonrunner eyed her horse charm necklace, and Ruva touched it self-consciously.

"Who is thy mount?" asked Moonrunner.

"Moonrunner from Deep Herd, let me introduce you to Moondancer…" Ruva trailed off, realising she didn't know Dancer's full title.

"I am Moondancer Human Mount, but you don't know that name. When I was still wild, I had a different name. I was Moondancer of Deep Herd."

Moonrunner froze, and so did Ruva.

Dancer looked at Moonrunner with overwhelming love. "It is a pleasure to see you, Sister."

Ruva gasped and stepped back, and Moonrunner reared. "Dancer? Is it… is it really thee, after all these years?"

Tears filled Ruva's eyes as she watched Dancer give an equine nod. Moonrunner charged towards her sister with more speed than Ruva had ever seen her, Ruva had to jump out of the way or her foot would've been crushed.

The two sisters collided, rubbing their heads against each other with more force than Ruva thought was possible. Tears came trickling down her face as she realised how important the two horses were to her. They had changed her life, and Ruva didn't know what she would be – _who_ she would be – without them.

She sat down on the side of the track, watching their heartfelt moment. She didn't want to intrude, but she didn't want to miss out either. Her back was against a large tree that shielded her from the sun. She pulled her knees against her chest, and she remembered all the things she'd achieved with the two of them.

She had awakened her gift. Gone for her first ride. Rode all the way to Akarnae. Met Dancer. Stood while Dancer cantered. Delucia gave Ruva her mount.

The list went on and on. Eventually Dancer and Moonrunner came and lied beside her. They snuggled close to her as she told them everything they'd helped her achieve. Ruva kept talking and talking, breaking into tears more than once. The sun slowly set as Ruva kept speaking, sharing almost every moment that one of the sisters might have missed.

That was where Tayla found them.

Tayla rode towards them, and Ruva noticed she was on Monarch, the horse Delucia rode. She had an almost amused look on her face, like she wasn't at all surprised by Ruva's position. Ruva smiled, realising how she would look from an outsider's perspective. Her extremely long hair was knotted and filled with all sorts of things, and she was flanked on either side by two nearly identical horses. She obviously looked as wild as she first did when she came to the academy four years ago.

"I see you've made some new friends there, Ruva," Ruva stood up slowly, stiff from sitting down for so long.

"Not new ones," Ruva said quietly. "Moonrunner is the wild horse I rode when I was nine, and her sister, Moondancer is the mount the princess gave me." Ruva's voice began to grow husky. She'd overused her gift, and she knew her voice wasn't going to last much longer.

"I can see you're enjoying yourself, but it's almost your curfew. You need to bring Dancer back to the stable, and her wild sister is more than welcome to stay overnight. Can you tell her that?"

Ruva nodded and whispered in Moonrunner's ear, her throat was too sore to speak properly.

"Let's go," said Tayla, and Ruva gracefully jumped onto Moonrunner's back. She marvelled at how much smaller she seemed since Ruva last rode her. Her legs fit perfectly against Moonrunner's sides, and Ruva could hold onto her mane much easier.

Ruva rode all the way back to the academy, her blond hair billowing out behind her.

…

Ruva knew she was too emotionally wound up to sleep, so she went down to the rec room. She sat down at the table with the other first years, where Harry was telling another one of his famous stories.

"Have you ever wondered why Luranda's lab has so many rules?" Harry started to chuckle. "Most of them were for my brother and his friends."

"About five years ago, when my brother was at Akarnae, he and his friends started annoying Luranda. They started by purposely wearing their lab coats back-to-front, something that frustrated her to no end. The worst part was, she couldn't give them a detention because they hadn't broken any rules! It only took a few lessons for her to make a new rule; nobody can deliberately wear their clothes back-to-front."

People started smiling as they realised where the story was heading.

Harry continued. "But that was only the beginning. The next Medical Science lesson they had, they sneezed every time Luranda said 'textbook'. She couldn't give them a detention for sneezing, so she made a rule about unnecessarily sneezing in her class," People started to laugh, and Ruva found herself smiling as she remembered when Alicia Porvey had gotten detention when she had a sneezing fit.

Harry smirked. "They kept at it for months, until Luranda's rule list was as big as her textbook," Harry sneezed then, and everyone started laughing. "And then, on his last day at Akarnae, my brother broke every single rule! He got one hundred hours of detention, but he graduated that afternoon. I would pay good money to see my brother meet Luranda again."

Snorts of agreement were heard all over the table, and Ruva smiled.

Quite a few people were in the rec room, and Ruva realised that someone had organised a movie night. The movie was about halfway through, but Ruva slipped on a ring and was immersed into the movie. Ruva hadn't seen many movies, but she could tell that this one was a definite favourite. People were saying lines as they happened, and whenever a song started the students burst out into badly-pitched singing.

When the movie was done, everyone left the rec room except for Arra, Leo and Harry. Ruva had pulled them over to the table, and they ordered milkshakes.

Arra was the first to speak. "What have you pulled us all down for, Angel? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm feeling really tired."

Ruva opened her mouth to tell them, but all that came out was a dry croak. Harry ordered a glass of water, but Ruva turned it down. She knew her voice was gone because of her gift, and it might take a few days to replenish. Ruva looked around for a pen and paper, but she sighed when she realised nothing was available. Ruva didn't know what to do, but then she remembered something.

So Ruva took a leap of faith, and _pushed_ her thoughts towards Leo, the way she imagined he must use his gift. She knew she was successful when she saw Leo jerk. Then she heard Leo's voice in her mind, but it was quiet, too quiet for Ruva to hear properly. She could guess what Leo was trying to ask her if she'd really spoke into his mind.

Ruva pushed her thoughts towards him again, '_Yes, I really did speak into your mind. I used my gift – my animal speaking one, – too much, so now I can't talk. Can you tell everyone that?_'

Leo's response was clear enough to understand this time. '_Ruva! You're speaking in my mind. H-How?_'

Ruva glanced around the table, realising that Harry and Arra were both silent, still waiting for her to give some kind of explanation. '_Look, can you just tell everyone that I can't speak normally. They're waiting for me to respond._'

Leo didn't respond, but Ruva saw him look at Arra and Harry, and she watched their expressions. With perfect timing, they both yelled out, "What?!"

Leo frowned, but Ruva found herself isolated from the conversation. Ruva now understood how Leo felt before his gift awoke, she was being ignored and couldn't voice her opinion.

"Ruva…" said Arra, "What Leo told us… Did you really speak into his mind?"

Ruva nodded slightly, her hands going to her Myrox necklace.

"How?" asked Harry, his tone deadbeat.

Ruva pushed her thoughts to Leo. '_I knew it was possible ever since I examined your gift ribbon. It will be easier if I show everyone through my gift._'

Leo explained to Arra and Harry, but they were both concerned.

"Are you sure you can handle that many people?" asked Arra, "You might crash if you do all four of us at once."

Ruva just nodded, communicating that she could do it.

Harry frowned. "Am I the only one who is confused here?" When no one replied, he continued, "Ruva's gift is animal speaking, how did she know the thing about Leo?"

Arra was the one who responded. "She's not talking about her animal speaking gift, she means her other one."

Harry's eyes widened. "Two gifts? _Two gifts_! How is that even possible! You must be joking!"

Ruva realised she had never told Harry about her second gift, and she buried her face in her hands. Ruva pushed her thoughts to Leo once more.

'_Can you try?_' she asked, making a mental note never to ask Arra to explain something.

Leo nodded and looked at Harry. Ruva could see he was concentrating hard, but Harry didn't seem to hear him.

But Harry didn't notice, he just kept on talking. "This isn't some science fiction movie! How can you have more than one gift? It's not biologically possible!"

Leo stood up and touched Harry on the arm. Physical contact, Ruva knew, made people's gifts more effective, and it seemed to work on Harry. He stopped talking, looking intently at Leo. Whatever Leo was sharing was long, but it calmed him down.

Harry took in a deep breath. "Do you really have your dad's gift?"

Ruva felt Arra stiffen beside her, and she realised that she'd neglected to tell her what she had discovered on New Year's Eve. She nodded to Harry's comment, wishing more than ever that she had her voice back.

"Will you – can you show me?"

Ruva nodded again, and activated her ribbon-seeing gift. She grabbed at her gift ribbon and dragged it over to Harry, she could tell from his ribbons how confused he was feeling. She placed the ribbon on his forehead, and she heard him gasp as he saw the ribbons surrounding him.

Harry gave a nervous laugh. "I guess… I guess it is possible…" Ruva smiled at him and moved over to Arra, putting her gift ribbon against her head too. She only smiled when she saw the ribbons, not overwhelmed like she had been the first time. Ruva brought her ribbon over to Leo, pausing in front of him. He was waiting for her with his eyes closed, trusting her. She brought the ribbon to Leo's forehead, marvelling at how soft his skin was. Her fingers lingered for only a few seconds, but Leo noticed.

He smiled when he opened his eyes. Leo looked at the ribbons surrounding them, before his gaze rested on Ruva. Ruva started to fidget, grabbing her Myrox necklace for comfort.

'_They've changed,_' said Leo.

Ruva blinked. '_What?_'

Leo smiled. '_Your ribbons have changed since last time._'

Ruva looked around, and she saw Leo was right. Her ribbon connected to Moonrunner was glowing brighter than ever, the love she felt for her a tangible thing. Her animal speaking ribbon was a pale, pale green, showing how she had drained her gift.

Ruva looked at Leo. '_They have changed, this ribbon has become brighter, and this one is paler._'

Leo pointed out a ribbon. '_Before this one was pale pink, but now it's a bit brighter._'

Ruva froze, Leo was pointing at the ribbon connecting _them_. The ribbon that meant Leo was going to fall in love with _her_.

Thankfully, they were interrupted by Harry. "So, were you born with two gifts?"

Ruva shook her head, and her father's gift ribbon flew into her hand without her summoning it. She looked to Leo, and he read the pleading gaze in her eyes.

'_At the moment Ruva's father passed away, his gift ribbon was connected to Ruva, similar to what she's doing with us now, and when he died, the ribbon stayed with Ruva._'

Ruva raised her eyebrows at the very – _very_ – abridged version of the story, but she was grateful that she didn't have to show everyone the ribbon. The memory alone was traumatic enough, she didn't need to relive it.

Harry whistled, but Arra looked confused. "How long have you known this?" she asked.

Ruva was about to push her thoughts to Leo, but he interceded. '_Ruva's known since that sleepover we had on New Year's Eve. That was when she showed me her ribbons._'

Arra frowned, and Ruva knew that she needed to explain it better, maybe even show her the ribbon for her to understand, but she'd have to do that later.

"How did you find out about the thing with Leo? Do you have a third gift or something that helps you do that?"

Ruva considered just telling them, but she thought they would prefer a more literal answer. So Ruva walked over to Leo, his gift ribbon flying into her hand as she summoned it.

Ruva used pinpoint control, just like she'd practiced with Marmaduke, to search through Leo's ribbon, looking for the information she needed. Finally, she found the tiniest strand, a strand carrying the information she needed. She held the strand out to the three of them, yawning from the extra exhaustion that came with it. All three of them touched the strand, and their expressions immediately cleared up.

The tiny strand explained exactly what Leo's gift was, that he was a telepathic communicator, not a mind reader. It also explained how the communication worked both ways, that if Leo's mind was open, he could receive responses to his messages.

"That's… really interesting," said Arra, not able to come up with a more adequate response. "When did you learn this?"

Ruva pushed her thoughts to Leo, and he communicated it with the others. '_Ruva says she's known about it since we first met. She was shocked when I first spoke to her, so she used her second gift to check if I was a mind reader._'

Arra smirked. "I still remember how out of it you were that dinner. I thought you were just staring at him," she said, her double meaning all too clear for Ruva.

Ruva elbowed Arra, but before she could communicate her annoyance Harry jumped in. "I want to try doing the telepathic communicating thing, are you willing to give it a shot, Leo?"

Leo nodded, and they both walked aside.

Ruva felt the strain of her gift increasing, and she realised that it was still connected to Leo and Harry. Ruva felt a painful spasm, and she cried out. But her voice was still gone from overusing her animal speaking gift, so she cried out in her mind instead. Leo heard her mental call, and he turned around and ran back, just as she collapsed. Ruva let go of her second gift, and the pain only increased. She scrunched her eyes shut, and clenched her jaw at the pain. She could tell that her friends were trying to talk to her, but Ruva couldn't work out a word they were saying.

It could have been seconds, it could have been hours, but Leo's voice made it into her mind. '_Ruva! What happened? What do we need to do?_'

Ruva couldn't form full sentences. '_Overused… gifts… get… help… Fletcher…_'

Ruva felt herself being lifted up, but then she fell into blissful unconsciousness.


	21. Chapter 21

**21**

Ruva woke up in a sterile room, a painful headache to greet her. Ruva had no idea how long she'd been asleep for, but she guessed it was late afternoon. Ruva sat up slowly, realising that she was in the Med Ward. Fletcher was nowhere to be seen, but Ruva could hear people celebrating all over the academy. Ruva was wondering what they could be so excited about when Fletcher walked in. He was eating a sandwich, and Ruva realised that he had been at the food court. Fletcher smiled when he saw that Ruva was awake, and Ruva gave a weak smile back.

'It's good to see you awake, Ruva. How are you feeling?"

Ruva tried to speak, but all that came out was a croak that launched her into a coughing fit.

Fletcher brought over a glass of water and a vial of pain relief, both of which Ruva gratefully accepted. Her headache became better, but her voice didn't return. Ruva remembered the events of the previous night, and she realised why her voice wasn't returning.

"You've been asleep for quite a while, Ruva. It's been six days since you woke up,"

Ruva's eyes widened. She had been asleep for _six whole_ days! _Even worse_, Ruva realised, _I missed out on all my exams_.

Fletcher didn't notice her surprise. "You've suffered from an extreme over-extension of your gift, effectively going well beyond the safe extend of your ability. Normally I would be able to medicate you within a day, and have you back to normal in three, but there were some complications. The main one, I don't know which gift you have overused."

Ruva stiffened, staring at Fletcher. Fletcher saw her shocked expression, and he explained himself. "I've read your file, which explains what your gifts are and how you can use them. Not to mention, I was there when you first came to the academy, no more than nine years old."

Ruva relaxed, but Fletcher wasn't finished yet. "Ruva, I need to know which gift you overused, so I can give you the right medication. I want you to nod your head if it was your animal speaking gift, and shake if it was your ribbon-seeing gift."

Ruva hesitated, but she nodded her head, then shook it. Fletcher frowned, but Ruva did both gestures again.

"You overused _both_ of your gifts?" asked Fletcher.

Ruva nodded, causing Fletcher to sigh.

"That makes things more difficult, I'm afraid," Ruva cocked her head, and Fletcher elaborated. "I have the medication that I would use to speed the repair of your animal speaking gift, and one for your ribbon-seeing one. But if taken together, they become a harmful substance known as oxytophamine, an acidic liquid that would do you much more harm than good. I can give you the medication for one of your gifts, but you will have to let the other restore itself naturally," Fletcher paused. "Which gift do you want the medication for?"

Ruva shook her head, signalling that she wanted her ribbon-seeing gift back. Fletcher gave her a deep midnight-blue vial, which tasted like dillyberries. Ruva downed the vial in one go, and the remainder of her headache disappeared instantly.

"The vial you've just drunk will have a few small side effects. Firstly, you might find it hard to control your gift, or find yourself activating it unintentionally. And secondly, you will feel weak for the next six hours, possibly so weak that you can't get up. That's while I'll have to keep you here for another night, Ruva."

Ruva sighed. Her seventh night in a row in the med ward.

"Are you feeling hungry right now?"

Ruva nodded her head slightly, and Fletcher handed her a rehydration toffee.

Seeing her questioning look, he explained himself. "Normally I'd order something for you to eat in here, but I wouldn't advise eating a large amount of food with your medication. The rehydration toffee will take the edge off your hunger and thirst until it is safe to eat food."

Ruva gratefully took the toffee, noticing that her arm felt a bit heavier than normal. In fact, everything felt heavier than normal. She realised that the midnight-blue vial was starting to take effect, so she laid down, sucking on her toffee. Fletcher went to the other side of the med ward where he organised his medical supplies. Ruva soon fell asleep, a sweet taste in her mouth.

…

Ruva woke up to lots of noise.

She could tell that it was still night, and she could hear Fletcher running around. She opened her eyes to the glaring white ceiling. With extreme difficulty, she turned her head to the left. Her body was screaming with effort, and Ruva belatedly realised how weak she was. Ruva closed her eyes for a minute, regaining her strength. Finally she prised them open, only to see the chaotic scene around her become many times worse.

Before there was only Fletcher and Ruva in the Med Ward. Fletcher was scrambling to gather supplies, including an extremely strong painkiller only used for life threatening injuries. Then the headmaster ran into the ward yelling, "She's coming!"

_Who?_ Thought Ruva, _Who is coming?_

Her internal question was answered a few seconds later. Firstly, Marselle came through the door, his clothes covered in blood. Secondly, Caspar Lennox and Finn came, carrying Alex on a stretcher, covered in blood. Hunter laid Alex face-down on the bed, and Ruva realised why Marselle was covered in blood.

Alex had been _stabbed_.

She could see the silver handle jutting out of her back, and Ruva shuddered to think of how the blade got there. Something about the pommel made Ruva hesitate, something felt familiar about the blade. But she couldn't reach the memory, no matter how hard she tried.

Then, the princess of Medora stormed in, everything about her emanating authority. Her glare was the worst Ruva had ever seen, and she yelled for everyone to get out of Fletcher's way. Ruva felt scared at the power in her voice, and if she had the strength she would've run in the opposite direction. The others reluctantly moved back, and she marvelled Delucia's power.

Fletcher hooked Alex up to a heart rate monitor, and Ruva realised that Alex's heartbeat was far from safe.

Fletcher went into Surgeon Mode, giving a spiel of medical babble that Ruva only understood because of the shifts she spent with Sela in the palace infirmary.

"… Minimal damage to the spine, severe lacerations below the collarbone… Deep puncture requiring Type Eight and Two Regenevators. Scans showing the blade has missed major arteries but punctured the lung from behind…"

Fletcher went quiet, and Ruva realised with horror that he was about to pull the blade out. He gripped the pommel, and pulled out the dagger with a sickening squelch. Delucia whimpered, her hellfire glare nowhere to be found. The beeps in the background became faster and faster, and Ruva's eyes widened as the wound closed all on its own. Fletcher gasped and stood back, and Jordan swore in the background.

To Fletcher's credit, he got over his shock in only a few seconds.

He grabbed his MedTek and took more X-rays of Alex, his medical babble too quiet for Ruva to hear. Eventually he injected a needle next to the scar, as close as it could get without touching the glowing mark. The liquid he used was a very hot pink, which Ruva knew was one of the strongest Regenevators available. Fletcher injected more liquids, and Ruva recognised a tissue regenerator, a strong sedative, a respiratory one and more pain relief.

Finally, he stepped back.

"I've done all I can. The only thing we can do is wait."

Bear, Delucia and Jordan silently stepped forward. Delucia's lip started to wobble, tears trickling down her face. Bear and Jordan reached for her hands, and they stood together.

"She's a tough one, our Alex," said Jordan.

"She'll be back up on her feet and driving us all crazy in no time, you'll see," said Bear.

Ruva's heart melted at their show of unity, and, unintentionally, her ribbons flickered into view. Ruva started crying as she saw white ribbons being forged before her eyes. Ribbons of _love_, connecting them. Tears slid down Ruva's face at the beauty of the moment, and she watched the ribbons become thicker, pulsing with life. They became brighter and brighter, so close to the silver which meant unbreakable.

Ruva's gift flickered in and out, but when the ribbons became constant again Ruva was dismayed to find that she could only see Alex's ribbons. Ruva stared at Alex's ribbons, and she saw a colour that she had never seen before. Alex had… _gold_ ribbons.

There were two of them, both with a glittery aura that outdid all the other ribbons. Paying more attention, Ruva realised that one of the gold ribbons was severed. The end wasn't tinted by black, which meant the ribbon wasn't separated by death, but the end seemed… _frayed_. It wasn't a clean cut like Ruva saw with other severed ribbons, it seemed like it was ripped by sheer force.

The second gold ribbon was whole, and Ruva realised it was connected to the blade that Fletcher pulled out of her back. Looking closer at the blade, waves of familiarity washed over Ruva.

Ae'nara.

The blade was called Ae'nara, and Ruva had seen it before.

It was the blade that Aven Dalmarta wielded.

And the blade that killed her parents.

Understanding washed over Ruva. _Aven_ had been at Akarnae tonight, and he had gone after Alex. Alex got stabbed by Aven, but the teachers found her before Aven could finish the job. Alex had been so lucky to survive, Ruva just hoped her luck didn't run out.

But Ruva _knew_ Alex would survive, she could see it in her ribbons. Her heart rate had grown increasingly steady, and her ribbons pulsed with renewed vitality. The most vibrant ribbon of all was her gift ribbon, the lime green strand dominating all the others. It reminded Ruva of when her gift first awoke, how it took the forefront of all her ribbons.

Fletcher was saying something, but Ruva couldn't concentrate on his voice. The ribbons were too distracting, and Ruva shoved them away with all her might. Her ribbons disappeared, but she was hit by a wave of tiredness. With that and her unnatural weakness, Ruva knew she had only a minute left of consciousness. She listened hard for Fletcher, and heard his last sentence.

"… And Alex will make a full recovery…"

Delucia burst into tears, and she saw both Bear and Jordan take shuddering breaths. Then it hit Ruva, _Alex will survive_.

That was all it took to put a smile on her face as she slept.


	22. Chapter 22

**22**

The next morning, Ruva woke up starving.

She hadn't eaten anything for about a week, one of the downsides of being unconscious. Ruva sat herself up, relieved that her all-consuming weakness was gone. The Med Ward was silent, and Ruva could see Alex sleeping peacefully. She was glad that Alex was going to be okay, but the next few days weren't going to be easy for her.

Ruva tentatively stood up, her toes freezing on the tile floor. She was still wearing the dirty riding clothes that she had on for her ES lesson, but she didn't know where Fletcher was. She didn't want to leave without giving him some warning, or he would panic when he realised that she wasn't there. Fletcher had plenty on his shoulders, he didn't need more stress.

Ruva walked around the bed, grabbing the glass of water on a table. As she drank, she realised that her throat no longer hurt. Ruva stopped. Was her gift replenished?

"Is it true?" she whispered, Ruva beamed when as she spoke. "My gift is back to normal!" she said, her voice only slightly croaky.

Fletcher walked in. He had large bags under his eyes and Ruva knew he hadn't slept. "Are you feeling okay, Ruva? Anything I need to know about?" Looking at Fletcher's tired eyes, Ruva knew he wanted her to say no.

Ruva gave a soft smile. "My voice is back now, I just feel really hungry."

Fletcher sighed. "Good, I'll send you on your way." He handed her a vial as she put on some shoes. "Drink this before you go to sleep tonight, it will help things run smoother for the next couple of days. Also, last night when you were asleep Alex came in again. If anyone asks, she's had a bad case of food poisoning."

Ruva nodded, understanding that the whole school didn't need to hear about how Aven Dalmarta had stabbed a student.

"Bye, Fletcher," she called as she walked out the door.

"Goodbye Ruva, and please go easy on your gifts for a while."

…

The next few days were exhausting, to say the least. Ruva had been exempted from the exams because of her illness, but now she had to repeat them all, by herself. She hadn't done her Core Skills Exam yet, Marmaduke had given her another week so she wouldn't put too much strain on her gifts.

Ruva was unsure which exam she hated more. In History she had to sit on a desk for over an hour, answering questions about how things worked before TCDs. SOSAC and Medical Science was just as hard, but at least she enjoyed the subject more.

She found all of her practical exams easier, and her favourite one was for PE. Finn set her on the obstacle course through the field and forest, and Ruva enjoyed herself despite becoming covered in sweat and grime. The best part of that exam was that Finn didn't make Ruva do anything in the lake, although Ruva had been refusing to enter the water.

According to Arra, Finn made them all swim one hundred metres for their exam, but for some reason, Finn didn't mention anything about the lake during Ruva's exam.

Her ES exam was less than Ruva expected. She was put through a cross country course through the forest, she wasn't allowed use a saddle, but that didn't make much difference. The hardest part of that exam had been where the track became so thin, Ruva had to stand up on Dancer so her legs wouldn't brush the thorny bushes.

…

Ruva collapsed on the bed, groaning. Arra looked up from her textbook, smirking and Ruva's position. "I take it you didn't enjoy your Chemistry exam."

Ruva mumbled into the pillow, unable to communicate her thoughts.

Arra chuckled. "I was wiped after Chemistry too, but you're lucky. _I_ still had another day of exams to do, while you get to do you exams more spread out.

Ruva mumbled into the pillow again, and Arra rolled her eyes.

"If you haven't noticed, I don't speak pillow."

Ruva rolled over. "I said, let's stop talking about exams. I've had enough of them for today."

Arra smiled. "If you say so, Angel," said Arra. Then she spoke again, with the enthusiasm of a news reporter. "How are you feeling after overusing two gifts?"

"Arra," Ruva groaned.

"What?" said Arra. "You're the first person in Medora to overuse more than one gift, I just want to know how you feel."

Ruva rolled her eyes. "I had the world's worst headache, a throat sore enough to kill and I was tired enough to fall asleep even as someone was bleeding to death in front of me."

"Wait, what?"

Ruva groaned, she wasn't supposed to mention this to Arra. Why did she find it so hard to keep secrets when she was tired?

"I'm… not supposed to tell you this, understand?" began Ruva. She didn't continue until Arra nodded. "On Friday night, Alexandra Jennings was stabbed by the murderer of my parents, Aven Dalmarta."

Arra gasped, "There was a – a _murderer_ on school campus? And he stabbed Alex?"

Ruva nodded. "I don't know much more than that, and if anyone asks, Alex was in the Med Ward for food poisoning."

Arra snorted. "Nobody's going to believe that. Everyone out and about after exams, celebrating and having dinner. At least twenty people saw her getting rushed into the Med Ward on a stretcher – _while bleeding_ – and since then, rumours have been flying left, right and centre about how she was injured."

"Does anyone know what actually happened?" asked Ruva.

Arra shrugged, "Everyone agrees that D.C. was there when it happened, but Bear and Jordan weren't. It's pretty unusual, normally Alex drags them into whatever mess she's gotten into, but somehow D.C. ended up with her instead. Besides from that, everyone's guessing."

"Why doesn't someone ask Del– D.C.?" asked Ruva, almost revealing Delucia's identity.

Arra snorted. "As if anyone would want to go up against her. She's been so moody these past couple days that you can't even _look_ at her without suffering from her glare."

Ruva winced, she had seen the princess' glare the night Alex came in, she wouldn't wish that upon anyone.

They fell into silence, and all the tension Ruva felt from the exam melted away.

"I can't wait for summer holidays, I really need a break," said Ruva. "But I don't want to leave here, too."

Arra smiled, "It feels like we've been here forever, it's almost surreal to think we'll be back home in a week's time."

Ruva unintentionally activated her second gift. Arra could have been talking, but Ruva couldn't hear what she was saying. She had been accidentally using her ribbon-seeing gift more and more, and she had difficulty turning it back off. It was almost like she'd become _too good_ at using her gift, but Ruva found she couldn't use the pinpoint control that Marmaduke had taught her.

However, Ruva knew that this was happening because she'd overused her gift, and had to let it heal naturally. The lack of control she had was frustrating, but she was beginning to find it easier to examine the ribbons while still being aware of her surroundings. She felt a squeeze on her arm, and she knew Arra was trying to talk to her. "I'm sorry," said Ruva. "But I've activated my gift again and I can't turn it off. I can't hear what you're saying or see what you're doing."

She felt Arra let go and move away, and Ruva resolutely rested her head on her pillow. It was calming, feeling the ebb and flow of the ribbons, and it didn't use much energy because she wasn't interacting with anything.

Ruva fell asleep a few minutes later, the swaying ribbons exactly what she needed.

…

The following morning, Ruva and Arra were having breakfast with Harry and Leo, they were all talking about what they were doing over the holidays.

"We're going to see my grandparents in Karonia," said Alex. "Their house is the best, and Grandma makes the world's best noodles."

Arra smiled. "I'll just be helping out in the café, it sounds boring, but I really love being there." Arra looked to Ruva. "What about you, Angel? What are you doing in the holidays?"

Ruva shrugged, "Nothing really, just riding and helping Sela in the palace infirmary."

Leo smiled. '_You make holidays sound relaxing. Holidays in our house are more like a warzone.'_

Ruva frowned, "What do you mean?"

'_Imagine sharing a house with ten other people,_' said Leo, '_Then try and organise three meals a day for them, making sure everyone has a bed, clothes that fit, along with solving any fights that break out._'

Ruva shuddered, she would never be able to cope with that many people living in close proximity.

"How many rooms does your house have?" asked Arra.

'_Not too many,'_ said Leo. '_We've got three bedrooms, but there's always a few who fall asleep on the couches._'

"Only three bedrooms?!" Arra shouts. "How do you fit _ten people _into three bedrooms?"

Leo shrugged. '_We've got three girls in the smaller room, the one with only two bunk beds. The boys get the bigger room, but they've got three bunk beds instead of two. Mum, Dad and baby Milly are in the last room._'

"That's… interesting. So how can we have a sleepover at your place?" asked Harry.

Leo smiled. '_We're only allowed one guest per night, because we don't have enough room for any more. Mum had to set up a chart, because everyone wanted to invite a friend over for a sleepover. I'll only be able to bring one of you at a time._'

"Okay, Leo. Most of us will be free all holidays so it will be up to you."

Leo didn't respond to all of them, but Ruva saw Leo turn to Harry.

Harry nodded to Leo before turning to the rest of them. "Leo needs a break from using his gift, he's still got the rest of the day, _and_ we've got Core Skills first up."

Right on cue, the gong sounded, and they all got up and headed to Core Skills.

Marmaduke began the lesson with a _long_ lecture about how to responsibly use their gifts during the holidays, and gave them all a sheet to fill in on how their gifts could go wrong and who could help them. Ruva struggled with the sheet, because both of her gifts had no lasting consequences. She could definitely provoke an animal to attack her, or examine some ribbon that she wished she never saw, but her gifts themselves wouldn't _damage_ anything.

At the end of the lesson, Marmaduke approached Ruva. "Ruva, it's time to have your gift exam."

Ruva was about to protest. She had PE next, and she didn't want to miss one of her lessons in the forest. But before she could speak, Marmaduke interrupted her. "The headmaster has cleared it with Finn, and I think you're well overdue for your gift exams."

Ruva reluctantly nodded, sitting back down in her chair.

"Since you have two gifts, I'll have to give you two separate exams. The first one you'll have now, with the second after your final lesson today. It doesn't matter which exam you do first, so I'll let you choose."

Ruva thought carefully. If she had her animal speaking exam first, it was most likely she wouldn't be able to speak for the rest of the day. Then again, if she did her ribbon seeing one then she could get a bad headache and be exhausted for a long time.

When she thought about it like that, Ruva knew it was best to choose her animal speaking gift. She told Marmaduke her choice, and Ruva prepared herself for what she was sure would be a gruelling exam.

But it _wasn't_ gruelling, it was… _easy_. Marmaduke didn't push her, just made her translate different phrases from Medoran to another tongue. She didn't pick hard animals either, just tame, domestic ones that were much easier to mimic.

When Marmaduke finished the exam, Ruva's throat didn't hurt. She still had plenty of energy, the exam nothing compared to the lessons she'd done earlier in the year. Ruva was about to question Marmaduke, but she left without dismissing her, something that surprised her. If there was one thing she knew about her Core Skills teacher, it was that she was consistent. Always, - _always_ – consistent.

She always opened the lesson with a lecture, gave them two page's worth of homework, and dismissed them as soon as the gong sounded.

But… Marmaduke hadn't dismissed Ruva, something that was as out-of-character as Fitzy remembering someone's name.

Ruva hesitantly went to her next class, still unsure why Marmaduke had acted so strangely.

…

After the classes for the day, Ruva found herself back with Marmaduke, ready to do her second gift exam. However, this time she wasn't surprised when Marmaduke set simple challenges. Although, Ruva found this exam so much more _frustrating_ than her first one. Twice a week, she had spent two hourly one-on-one sessions, concentrating on her gift. She had built up its power remarkably, and – for a time – she had unparalleled control. Because of Marmaduke's sessions, she could summon ribbons to her hand, although she hadn't dared try it since she severely overused her gift.

Once her exam had finished, she asked Marmaduke why she had been so easy on her. Marmaduke's response, however, was to break into tears.

She gave tiny, hiccupping sobs along with the tears, a sound that made Ruva pause. Her second gift activated, and two of Marmaduke's ribbons drew Ruva's attention.

The first was a yellow friendship ribbon, like the one between herself and Dancer. This ribbon was severed, with the black tainting the end by death. The second was Marmaduke's gift ribbon. It was pale in colour, like when Ruva was close to the limits of her own gift. But it also seemed thinner than usual, like something had pushed it back from its usual vitality.

But before Ruva could better interpret the ribbons, Marmaduke started talking. Ruva knew better than to try to deactivate her gift, so instead she tried pushing away all the lesser ribbons. Remarkably, it worked, leaving only the important ribbons in Ruva's sight. She concentrated on Marmaduke, hearing what she had to say.

"When I was in Akarnae, I overused my gift often, sometimes even once a week. I had a strong mind-reading ability back then, but not as strong as I wanted it to be. I strived to be the best of the best, testing my ability more and more, which often ended up with me in the Med Ward." Marmaduke smiled through her tears, remembering something from her past.

"The fact that I was a mind-reader estranged me from my classmates. They didn't like being with someone they could keep no secrets from them. My only friend was a girl called Jacinta, whose mind was shielded enough that I couldn't read her. We both had strong gifts, and we didn't realise it at the time, but we damaged them. Every time we went past our limit, we had violent reactions, but we laughed them off."

Marmaduke looked Ruva in the eye. "That is, until we pushed them too far.

I severely overused my gift, ending up unconscious in the food court. Jacinta became a bit worried, since fainting wasn't one of my usual symptoms, so she brought me to the Med Ward."

Marmaduke started crying again, and Ruva patted her on the shoulder, not sure whether to intervene or to tell someone what had happened.

But the teacher calmed herself enough to keep speaking. "When I woke up, I knew I had gone too far. I tried to use my gift, but I – I _couldn't_. Only a few surface thoughts came when I tried to read their mind, even though I was at my full strength.

I didn't realise until later, but my gift was _broken_. I did permanent damage to it by overusing it so much, so that I could barely read surface thoughts."

Understanding washed over Ruva. Marmaduke had been trying to _help_ her, not wanting her to ruin her gift like she'd done to her own.

After realising this, Ruva understood why Marmaduke had been so careful with her gift exam. She still thought the teacher was being overprotective, but Marmaduke wasn't without cause.

"It was after that event that I knew that I wanted to be the Core Skills teacher, to teach others the lessons that I learnt the hard way.

I tried to tell Jacinta, warned her to use her gift carefully, but she was too free-spirited, she ignored my warnings."

Something tickled at the back of her memory, but Ruva pushed it away, trying to listen to Marmaduke.

"Inevitably, Jacinta pushed her gift well beyond its limits, but the results were much worse. She fell into a coma, one that we couldn't wake her from. The only reason she woke up was because of a first year called Grimm Helkin, who could bring people in and out of comas with his gift. We were ecstatic when Jacinta awoke, and Edward…" Marmaduke smiled, reliving the moment. "He kissed her, and Jacinta kissed back."

Ruva frowned. Although Marmaduke's story made sense, Ruva felt that she was missing a vital piece. After searching through her mind, Ruva made a crucial discovery. "W-What was Edward's last name?" asked Ruva, a bold idea in her head.

Marmaduke blinked, as if only just remembering that Ruva was there. "His name was Edward Springden, and he was enamoured with Jacinta Lock. It was entertaining how blind she was to his obvious affection." Marmaduke smiled, lost in thought again. Ruva didn't prompt her to keep talking, she was occupied enough by the thought that Marmaduke had known her parents while they were at Akarnae.

Looking at the ribbons once more, Ruva realised that Marmaduke's gift ribbon was so small and pale because of the permanent damage she had done in her youth. It saddened Ruva to think of what Marmaduke had lost, Ruva would hate it if she lost either of her gifts.

The yellow friendship ribbon, Ruva realised, had once been connected to her mother. Jacinta Springden had been friends with Astrid Marmaduke, and the ribbon was severed by death.

Ruva desperately wanted to ask Marmaduke about her parents, but she didn't want to push her teacher when she was in such a fragile position.

But before Ruva could make a decision, someone knocked at the door. Looking through the transparent door, Ruva saw Maggie standing outside the door. Marmaduke wiped the tears off her face, and walked over to the door. She let Maggie in, and thanked Ruva for her time here. Ruva took that as her cue to leave, heading to the food court.

She couldn't see her friends in the food court, so Ruva ate a quick meal on her own before going up to her dorm. Ruva pulled out the photo album from its spot on their bookshelf. Looking through all the photos, Ruva stopped at one from her parent's days at Akarnae. There were two pictures that drew Ruva's attention. The first was a picture of Jacinta, smiling with another girl who Ruva realised was a young version of Professor Marmaduke.

The second was a photo of Edward and Jacinta, hand in hand. But Ruva noticed something in the background. Marmaduke was hugging a thin, tall boy who she realised must be Grimm Helkin. A smile touched Ruva's lips as she imagined her parents at Akarnae. Did they have the same potential classes as she did now?

Ruva went to bed, imagining her parent's life.

**So thanks to everyone still bothering to read this far.**

**(I know it's getting pretty long)**

**I'm terrible at being social but I want to say that your comments mean a lot to me, they're the reason I'm still writing chapters week after week.**

**Yeah, thanks for reading this week after week**


	23. Chapter 23

**23**

Ruva walked through the palace hallways, remembering every twist and turn. The last week at Akarnae had flew by, and now she spent every day in the summer sun.

Each morning Ruva would wake up early, just before the sun had risen. She would creep out of her room, almost running to the stables. Dancer would always be waiting, and they'd ride into the forest together.

Ruva found her breakfast by foraging, dillyberries being her favourite because of the energy boost they gave her. But there were many fruits in season at the moment, so she often asked other animals for advice on where she could find some of the best fruit.

The animals were all too happy to help her, excited by the fact of meeting Ruva Equine Speaker, who stopped ten hunters with her bare hands…

…Or so they thought.

Ruva's celebrity status amongst the animals had skyrocketed, her whole life was legendary, with rumours increasing more and more. Ruva had snorted the first time a creature asked her how her assassination mission went, you know, the reason she hadn't been here for most of the year.

Ruva tried to correct the rumours, but in the end she realised it was a lost cause. The creatures here believed with all their hearts that she had near-mythical dregs of power, and even Ruva couldn't convince them otherwise.

Around noon, when it became blisteringly hot, Ruva rode Dancer back to the stable, making sure to give her plenty of water and to brush her down well.

Then, Ruva would spend the afternoon with Sela, helping her with patients in the Palace Infirmary. When there were no patients to treat, Sela further extended Ruva's knowledge about all things medical. Ruva learnt much more than she did in Luranda's lessons, if only because she got more practical experience.

Ruva would have dinner with both her adoptive parents, before going back to the stables with Corbin. They'd feed all the horses, brush them, and tended to whatever else needed doing.

It was the perfect rhythm for the holidays, relaxing Ruva more than anything else could have.

Then again, Ruva still became very nervous when an invitation arrived for her. An invitation for a sleepover.

An invitation from Leo.

…

Ruva unpacked her bag again, making sure she had everything she needed. She knew she was being paranoid, and whenever she stopped moving her hands went straight to her Myrox necklace. Sela noticed her nerves and gave her hand a squeeze. Ruva smiled at Sela, her nerves easing ever so slightly. She helped Ruva pack her bag, reminding her of things she might need. Once she had packed her bag once more, Sela made her organise one of the first-aid kits. Ruva was grateful for the distraction, but it helped the time pass much too quickly.

But, when it was finally time to leave, Sela was unrelenting. She all but pushed Ruva through the bubbledoor, not letting her doubt. While Ruva was grateful she wasn't given time to second-guess herself, she wished she had more time to prepare herself for what was coming.

When Ruva came out the other end of the bubbledoor, she froze to the spot. Ruva was in the right place, at least, judging by the multitude of kids outside. They didn't notice Ruva, as they were all immersed in their own activities. Some of the older kids were playing a ball game, actively dodging the toys that littered the lawn and the smaller children, too.

She could hear people yelling from the house, and Ruva realised it was larger than she thought. When Leo said three bedrooms, Ruva had imagined he lived in a terrace, something similar to Arra's house. But the house was two storeys, and of decent quality. Ruva looked to the second storey, seeing kids run past the windows and onto a small balcony.

Ruva took a step forward, hesitating. What did she do now? Ruva wanted to find Leo, as she didn't know what sort of reception she would receive from Leo's siblings. Ruva looked around once more, trying to catch a glimpse of Leo's face.

When she didn't see any sign of Leo, she slumped. Ruva didn't have the courage to ask any of the kids that ran past her – even around her – without noticing. Ruva had one idea left, but Leo would have to be close by for it to work.

'_Leo? Can you hear me? It's Ruva… I'm here now._'

Leo's response was instant. '_Ruva! You've arrived! Stay right there, I'll come and get you._' Ruva had to only wait ten seconds before Leo came running out the door. He came to a stop in front of her, giving her a quick hug.

Ruva's cheeks heated from the hug, despite the gesture being normal between two friends. "It's good to see you, Leo." Ruva stopped, not knowing what else to say.

But before the silence between them could become awkward, Leo smiled. '_It's good to see you too._' Leo grabbed Ruva's hand, '_Come on, I want to show you everything!_'

Leo pulled Ruva into the house, helping her dodge the toys and smaller children. Everyone was constantly _moving_, and Ruva had to put active effort into where she stepped so she wouldn't bump into anyone. Leo moved around the people perfunctorily, and Ruva marvelled his skill. Leo led her all through the house.

Firstly, showing the kitchen, which had a pile of dishes so high Ruva wondered how they didn't fall over. Ruva asked Leo when the dishes had last been cleaned, and he shrugged, saying this morning.

Next Leo led Ruva into the dining room, a large room with two long tables taking centre stage. A few people were finishing their lunch, while others were drawing and colouring.

Leo led Ruva across the hallway, into a giant room that took up the other half of the second storey. Leo introduced her to the rumpus room, and warned her to watch where she stepped. Ruva looked down, realising that the floor was littered with toys. Looking at the kids doing various things, Ruva realised that this was the Wendyl house's equivalent to the rec room.

After the rumpus room, Leo pointed out a small room adjacent to it. '_That's the silent room,_' he explained. '_It's where we go if we're studying or need some space._'

Peeking through the door, Ruva saw only one girl, reading what looked like a medical textbook. When Ruva pointed her out to Leo, he explained. '_That's Tia. She's about six years older than me, and she's studying to become a doctor._'

Ruva looked to the staircase at the front of the house, wondering what was on the second storey.

Leo followed her gaze. '_All of the bedrooms are upstairs, I'll show you where you're sleeping tonight._'

Ruva followed Leo up the stairs, and into the first room on the left. The room was large, probably twice the size of Ruva's dorm at Akarnae. Two bunk beds took up most of the room, and Ruva saw various belongings on five of the beds. A large wardrobe covered the entire wall to Ruva's right, with a decent sized window on the far wall.

'_This is the Girls' Room, where you'll be sleeping tonight._'

Ruva nodded, spying a made bed that she guessed was hers for the night. "Where is everyone's stuff?" When Leo looked at her questioningly, she elaborated. "I mean, this room is pretty bare. Where are the toys? Books? There's barely any personal possessions here."

Leo's eyes lit with realisation. '_These _are_ most of their possessions, all of the toys and other activities in this house are stored in the rumpus room. The things you see here are just personal items, that they don't want anyone else using._'

Ruva nodded, Leo's explanation making sense. In the Wendyl household, everything was shared with each other, resources were used equally, and everyone was given what they need.

Leo showed Ruva the Boys' Room only quickly, with Ruva realising it was similar to the girls', only it had three bunk beds instead of two.

Leo showed her the room that seemed to universally be called 'Mum and Dad's room', even though Leo's father was barely home and baby Milly slept there, too. The room had more items than the last two rooms, with a double bed in the centre and a cradle for Milly on the side.

Leo pointed to a door at the end of the hall, saying that the bathroom was through there. After that they went back downstairs, and Leo told Ruva he was going to introduce her to his mother. Ruva had froze as soon as she heard that, already full of nerves about meeting the woman who had raised Leo and all of his siblings.

'_Come on, Mum is great. She's really kind, and she knows that visitors can feel awkward in our house. She'll be able to help you settle, Mum's been having kids here for sleepovers for about fifteen years._'

Heartened by Leo's support of his mother, Ruva followed him down the stairs and back into the kitchen.

Ruva's first impression of Mrs Wendyl was a middle-aged woman with a round face. She looked very soft-hearted, like she'd put her trust into every person she met. Ruva felt herself warming to her, watching her cook a gigantic feast, a baby in one arm.

Ruva's impression, however, was very wrong. A young child ran through the kitchen, accidentally knocking over a jug of water. The jug didn't smash – it was plastic, thankfully – but Mrs Wendyl grabbed the child by the wrist as he tried to run off. "Matt! Where do you think you're going?" asked Mrs Wendyl. "Grab a tea towel and clean up that mess."

Matt sighed, but he picked up a tea towel and cleaned up the mess anyway.

Ruva was surprised, the boy, Matt, looked like he was only five or six, but he still had to clean up the spill anyway.

Mrs Wendyl watched Matt for a few seconds, making sure he was actually cleaning up, before turning to Leo. "Ah, Leo. I didn't see you there. Is this the friend who is sleeping over with us tonight?"

Leo nodded, but Mrs Wendyl was already turning towards Ruva. "What's your name?"

"I – my name is Ruva," she said, slightly flustered by the woman's pushy nature.

"It's nice to meet you, Ruva. I'm Mrs Wendyl, the mother of all the children infesting this house," she said, giving Leo and Matt a look.

Leo gave a sheepish grin, and Ruva smiled back. They might have looked for a bit _too_ long, as Mrs Wendyl gave a knowing look.

"So, you two are _friends_?" she asked, the hidden intent seeming all too clear.

'_Mum!_' said Leo. '_You said you wouldn't embarrass me._'

Mrs Wendyl gave Leo a sidelong look. Then, seeing Ruva's eternal embarrassment, said, "Leo, go set the table for dinner, I want Ruva to help me finish cooking."

Leo reluctantly left the room, leaving Ruva with Mrs Wendyl, someone who Ruva now realised was a woman with a steely core.

Mrs Wendyl was stirring a giant pot of soup, something that was giving a delicious aroma. Ruva watched on, unsure of how she could help. Mrs Wendyl turned around, noticing Ruva's awkwardness.

"Can you hold Milly for me? I need two hands to finish this off," said Mrs Wendyl.

Ruva stepped closer, unsure how to hold the cute, wriggling child. Mrs Wendyl noticed her lack of surety, and instructed her. "Use your right arm to hold her – yes, that's right. Just beneath her nappy. – now use your other arm to support her head, she should lean onto your shoulder."

The baby squirmed in Ruva's arms as she adjusted her grip, her tiny hands grabbing at Ruva's shirt. But once Ruva became still, the baby relaxed, leaning her tiny head into the crook of Ruva's neck. Once Milly was settled, Ruva found herself relaxing. Milly's small body fit perfectly against her, and her small hand wrapped around Ruva's neck.

Mrs Wendyl nodded. "You're good with children, have you got younger siblings of your own?"

Ruva shook her head, careful not to disturb Milly. "No, I'm an only child."

Mrs Wendyl smiled. "You're a natural, Ruva." Ruva smiled at her praise. "What about animals? Are you good with them too?"

Ruva nodded. "Yes, I am. My gift is animal speaking, and I spend lots of time with them."

Mrs Wendyl turned back to the pot. "I thought so."

Ruva wondered how she could have known, "Are you gifted?" she asked. Ruva could have checked the woman's ribbons, but it wasn't polite to look without a person's permission.

Mrs Wendyl laughed. "Unfortunately, no. The gifts come from my husband's side of the family. I just have years of experience when it comes to reading people."

"What can you tell about me?" asked Ruva. Her embarrassment over Leo was long gone, with Mrs Wendyl making her feel right at home.

"About you? Let me see… You move with uncommon grace, which tells me you are quick on your feet and are very flexible. Your hair is full of twigs and leaves, which tells me you like to explore. Your hands are calloused, which means you are dedicated to a physical activity." Mrs Wendyl looked at her closer, finally saying, "You handled Milly very carefully, respecting a being that was smaller and much more vulnerable than yourself. That is very commendable, as most would unconsciously see themselves as superior."

Ruva smiled at Mrs Wendyl, she truly was an observant woman. She made Ruva feel at home, something that very few people could do.

Mrs Wendyl finished her giant pot of soup, hauling it off the cookpot. She carried the pot into the dining room, where she placed it on the island bench to the side. Ruva saw that both tables were set with bowls and spoons, enough for all twelve people. Mrs Wendyl walked towards Ruva, and asked for Milly. Ruva nodded and handed the calm child over, only just realising how hard it was carrying the extra weight.

"I'll call everyone in for dinner now," said Mrs Wendyl, "Just make sure you're not standing too close to the soup, or you'll end up in the middle of the stampede."

_Stampede of what?_ thought Ruva. She must have unconsciously projected the question to Leo, because he answered her.

'_She's talking about my siblings. As soon as Mum calls out, they'll all come streaming in for food._'

"Ruva?" Mrs Wendyl asked, "Can you help me serve everyone dinner? I need someone to hand out bread to everyone."

Ruva nodded, despite the fact that she'd rather sit down at the table. But Ruva didn't want to turn down Mrs Wendyl's request, not when she didn't know how she would react.

Leo moved to the far table, and Ruva felt a twinge of nerves. '_Leo?_' she called, unsure if Leo would hear her mental call from a further distance. When Leo looked up, Ruva knew it had worked. '_How does everyone know when dinner is ready?_'

Leo's chocolate-brown eyes lit up. '_Just wait and see._'

_That,_ thought Ruva, _is really reassuring_.

Leo had an almost devilish look on his face, something that Ruva had never seen before. She would have gazed at Leo for longer, but Mrs Wendyl had other ideas.

"DINNER!" yelled Mrs Wendyl, so loud that Ruva put her hands over her ears. But even with her ears blocked, she heard the resounding call of every kid in the house, all of them yelling as loud as they could.

Suddenly, the house went silent. There were no more shrieks of laughter in the background, no more arguing voices, something that had been constant up to this point.

Mrs Wendyl chuckled. "You had better get behind this bench, Ruva. I can hear them coming."

Ruva hurried behind the bench, then she heard them too. At first it was just a rumble, like some machine was starting up. It got louder, and louder, until the dining room doors burst open, and in swept a wave of kids.

Ruva was very happy that she was on the other side of the bench, especially when she saw the wave sweep across the two tables, with every individual kid grabbing a bowl, before changing direction and heading straight to the pot of soup Mrs Wendyl was making. They all stood in front of the island bench, with eager looks on their faces.

"Everyone," said Mrs Wendyl, "this is our guest for the night, Ruva. When I'm getting your soup, I want you to introduce yourself to Ruva. Is that clear?"

All of the kids nodded, some mumbling their confirmation.

Mrs Wendyl took the bowl from a girl who looked around ten. "I'm Libby, and I really like your hair. It's so pretty."

The next kid was a boy with stains on his shirt, who was definitely younger than Libby. "Girls are stinky! I'm not talking to a girl!"

The boy next to him rolled his eyes, and Ruva guessed he was around eighteen. "He's Matt and I'm Greg. Sorry about Matt, he's just going through a phase."

The kids continued to come, each introducing themselves to Ruva. She knew that she would never remember all the names, not when there was so many. Rob, Tia, Lisa, Greg, Milly, Matt, Libby, Nick. She would remember Leo, but everyone else was too much.

Ruva stood there as everyone else started their dinner, continuing to hand out bread rolls while Mrs Wendyl was serving soup. Finally, once everyone had been served, Leo came over with two bowls, filling them up with the delicious soup.

The three of them sat down at the table in the last spots available. Ruva looked at the chaotic table, noticing how there was way too many conversations happening at once. The younger kids were all talking about what they had done that day, while others were arguing about the latest Warriors' game. But the group closest to Ruva was talking about what they planned on doing once school had finished for them. This interested Ruva very much, as she had never thought of what she would do once she finished Akarnae.

"I want to work for the ISDS, I still can't believe I finished the third year exams at the specialist school!" said Nick, "Our teachers have been promising that next year we'll go on an excursion and I can't wait!"

Greg snorted, "You'll never get to see other races – _let alone_ their cities – I highly doubt that they will let _you_ go on an excursion, especially since you're only fifteen."

"That's not true! There's this one guy, Blake Ronnigan, who's been liaising with other races since he's started, and he's only nineteen!"

As always, Ruva found it difficult to join the conversation, so she imagined what she might do when she left Akarnae.

She could work for the ISDS, like Nick, where her animal speaking gift would be perfect to use. Although, the most important negotiations would be with Flips, Jarnocks, Shadow Walkers and Dayriders, all tongues that she found hard to pronounce.

Ruva couldn't think of where her second gift could be used, but its ability to interpret people's mental state could be used in prisons – not that she was _eager_ to work there.

She definitely liked helping people, and Ruva knew she enjoyed being in the Palace Infirmary with Sela, maybe she could work in a hospital.

Now there was an idea, and she could use her second gift to gain a deeper understanding of her patients.

"Ruva?"

Ruva blinked, paying attention to her surroundings once more.

Mrs Wendyl laughed. "You look tired, Ruva. I think it's time everyone here gets some rest, I'll get Tia to show you your bed," she said. Then, standing up to face everyone in the room, she spoke. "You hear that, everyone? It's time for bed. Pyjamas, teeth, curtains shut, no TCDs in bedrooms – yes, I'm looking at you, Nick."

Everyone around Ruva started moving, all seeming to know what they were doing. Ruva froze in the middle, overwhelmed by the sudden amount of movement. Someone grabbed her hand and pulled her into the hallway.

Ruva looked up and saw Tia, the oldest in the family. "Come on, you need to get into your pyjamas before everyone else comes up. I saw how panicked you were in the middle of that, so you need to hurry or you'll be run over by everyone trying to get to the bedrooms."

Ruva nodded, surprised by the girl's abrupt instructions and the way she got straight to the point.

Ruva went into the girl's room, grabbing her pyjamas and then changing in the toilet. She heard the thundering sound of everyone running up the stairs, and Ruva decided she didn't want to come out just yet. It wasn't until everyone ran past that Ruva jumped out and went to quickly brush her teeth before everyone came out of the bedrooms.

Tia was in there too, apparently excluded from whatever everyone was doing downstairs. They brushed their teeth in silence, with Ruva finishing first.

Tia spat out her toothpaste, then she spoke. "You didn't brush properly. You missed your back teeth on the left."

Ruva's head swung towards her, and she wondered how Tia could possibly know that.

Tia smiled, and explained herself. "My gift is being able to evaluate people's physical condition, like sensing how and where you're injured. That's the reason I could tell you were overwhelmed downstairs, because I sensed the adrenaline flooding your system." In a wry tone, she added, "That's also how I could tell you missed your back teeth."

Ruva smiled, but then she heard footsteps down the hallway.

Tia heard them too. "You had better leave now, Ruva. In about thirty seconds everyone will be in this room, and you'll barely be able to move."

Ruva heeded Tia's advice, walking past the bedrooms and onto a balcony that she hadn't noticed before. It was just behind the stairs where Ruva had walked up. The night air was warm and calming, and Ruva took in a deep breath. She hadn't realised how overwhelmed she was inside, but she needed this silence.

There were less animals here than at Akarnae or the palace, but this part of Tryllin had other sounds. Ruva could hear many dogs and cats, and there was a smaller variety of birds. She could hear people, too, laughing and chattering echoing into the night.

Ruva was concentrating so much on the city that she didn't hear Leo come onto the balcony, didn't even notice him until he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Ruva's insides fluttered at the light touch, but she didn't outwardly react.

'_I come here when I'm feeling overwhelmed,_' said Leo. '_It's always so quiet up here, quiet enough that I don't feel out of place._'

Ruva turned to face him, a silent question in her eyes.

Leo looked into her eyes, and Ruva saw herself reflected back. '_They all talk and laugh, not realising the gift they have. I will never be able to do that, never talk like a normal person._'

Ruva wanted to tell Leo that just because he couldn't talk, it didn't mean he had no voice.

She wanted to tell him that he always listened, always heard exactly what she wanted to say, even if she couldn't find the words for it.

She wanted to tell him that he _mattered_, especially to her.

But, as always, Ruva couldn't find the words she needed.

'_But out here, it's silent, but also filled with noise. I feel like I'm part of something up here, and no one expects anything of me._'

Leo put his hand in Ruva's, saying '_Thanks for listening to me, Ruva. I don't think I've ever told anyone what I told you._'

Ruva flinched slightly at the almost intimate touch, but then she knew what to say. "After my parents died, I didn't speak for half a year. I – I guess that taught me to listen."

Leo's chocolate eyes darkened with the mention of her parents. '_It's terrible that they died, especially when you were so little. I know that I would never be the same if my parents died._' –Leo took a step closer to Ruva– '_I think you're so strong, but you always seem insecure._'

Leo tilted Ruva's head up. '_When will you start believing in yourself?_'

His hand rested against Ruva's cheek, and Ruva started to panic. _Is he going to – to…_ Ruva's thoughts were interrupted when Leo slowly leaned forward, his eyes closing. Panicking more, Ruva took a step back.

"I have to… to go to bed. I'm…" Ruva wanted to say sorry, but the words just wouldn't form. "I'm tired."

She walked back across the balcony, keeping her eyes trained on the door in front of her. Just before she stepped through the doorway, she looked back, and Leo's turbulent eyes met hers. Ruva held his gaze, trying to tell him how she felt.

Then she stepped through the door, running all the way into the girls' room.

Ruva didn't remember choosing a bed, didn't remember a single thing the three girls said to her. All she could think of was Leo, and how upset he was when she pulled away. Her ribbons appeared, and Ruva took comfort in their gentle glow. One ribbon became brighter than all the others, drawing Ruva's attention. She touched it carefully, not wanting to get drawn into a memory. A light shade of pink filled her vision, before clearing to show an image Ruva had witnessed only minutes before. It was her and Leo holding hands, the sky above them filled with stars.

Ruva blinked, the image fading into the darkness of the bedroom. A wave of guilt washed over her, as she realised how much she'd hurt Leo.

She willed her ribbons back, but Ruva was afraid to touch the pink ribbon once more. Instead she just looked at it, trying to ignore the tightness in her throat. Was it just her, or did the ribbon seem more pink than before?

Ruva remembered the first time she saw the ribbon, on her orientation day at the start of the year – how long ago that seemed! – It was definitely a paler pink then. She remembered comparing it to a spring blossom, and how it was so pale she would've called it white. Now it was definitely a more substantial pink, like the colour of a sunrise.

Ruva shuddered, something about her ribbons made her feel sick. She looked around, expecting to see some obtrusive ribbon, but there was nothing. The ribbons swayed as peacefully as ever, but while that would normally put Ruva at ease, it made her stomach churn.

She tried to deactivate her ribbons, and – this time – it worked.

Laying in the dark, Ruva played the scene of her and Leo over and over until tears silently rolled down her face. One question rolled through her mind, a question that she would sell the world to know the answer.

_Did I make the right choice?_


	24. Chapter 24

**24**

The following morning, Ruva followed the swarm of children down to the breakfast table, finding herself some toast and a place to sit. While she was eating, Libby asked if she could play with Ruva's hair. Ruva had been too distracted to fully comprehend the question, so she had just nodded.

Ruva glanced over to the other table, only to see Leo looking back at her. She held his gaze, despite the churning in her guts.

Knowing that he wouldn't hear her if she spoke, Ruva mentally sent, '_About last night… I was – I _am_…_' but she didn't get any further before Leo interrupted her.

'_There's nothing to apologise for. You were tired, that's all._' Ruva heard the words from Leo, but his face told a different story. Looking into those eyes, she could see that he was sorry too. He was trying to apologise for pushing too far, and trying to forgive her for leaving.

Ruva didn't know what to say, so she held his gaze for a few moments before looking away. Concentrating on her toast, Ruva felt Libby's fingers intricately weave through her hair. Ruva could feel the grace of her fingers, which were doing a much better job than she or Arra had ever done. Soon after she had finished her breakfast, Libby finished whatever she was doing with Ruva's hair, and yelled, "Done!"

Ella pulled Ruva up the stairs to the bathroom, where Ruva admired the design in her hair.

Half of her golden-blond hair was left down, the silky cascade going almost to her knees. The top half had been weaved into what Ruva first thought was a plait, but it was much more than that. The intricate design was an interloping pattern, which weaved over and around and through itself. Ruva knew she would never be able to replicate what Libby had done, but she would definitely ask her how she did it.

However, Ruva didn't get the chance to ask before Libby dragged her into the girls' room, saying "We have to pick you some bathers!"

_Bathers?_ thought Ruva, _Does she mean we're going _swimming_?!_

_No_, she _couldn't_. No no no _no._

Ruva ran out of the bedroom before Libby even noticed.

She pummelled down the stairs, almost knocking over Lisa. Ruva was going too fast to slow down – or even _apologise_ – as she flew past. If given the choice, Ruva knew that she would've ran out the door and all the way back to the palace, but before she got to the door a hand latched onto her arm. Ruva looked up, seeing Tia with her brown eyes, the same brown as Leo's.

But Ruva only calmed for a moment before panic assailed her once more. She tried to yank away from Tia's grip, but she was unyielding.

"Whoa! Calm down, Ruva! You're panicking and running off is _not_ going to help it."

Ruva blinked, barely comprehending what Tia was saying. She was panting now, the rush of adrenaline she felt in the bedroom wearing off.

Tia must have been using her gift, because she immediately said "That's better. Now come into the Silent Room, you feel way too crowded out here."

Once they were in the empty Silent Room, Ruva breathed a sigh of relief. True to its name, the room was quiet, exactly what she needed.

Tia tried to question her, tried to find out what had happened that made her spiral out of control. But Ruva wouldn't – _couldn't _– answer her questions, she just fell back into silence, the familiar reflex to stressful events. Eventually Tia left the room, only to return with Leo, Mrs Wendyl and Libby.

"Ella, what happened when she was with you?" asked Mrs Wendyl.

Ella shrugged. "We were looking at her hair in the bathroom, and then we went into the Girls' Room. I told her that we were going to pick some bathers for her, but when I turned around she was gone."

What about you, Tia?"

"I found her sprinting for the door, and she knocked over Lisa without even noticing. I grabbed onto her arm, and I could feel she was spiralling into a panic attack. She looked overwhelmed, so I brought her in here. So far she hasn't spoken to me, but she isn't getting rushes of adrenaline now."

"Anything to add, Leo?"

Leo was silent for a moment, before saying, '_Ruva often becomes silent when under pressure, and I've seen her have moments like this before. I think what made her panic was when Libby mentioned the bathers, because Ruva has… has a fear of water._'

Ruva flinched at the words, and Leo noticed the reaction. He placed a hand on Ruva's shoulder, but it only made her feel worse, remembering what happened last night.

'_The reason she panicked was because I hadn't told her that we're going to…_' –Leo glanced at Ruva– '_To that place, today,_' he finished.

Ruva frowned at his cryptic answer, but Mrs Wendyl seemed to understand.

"Come on, Tia and Libby," she said, "Let's give these two a bit of peace and quiet."

Ruva silently begged them not to leave, but they all walked out, the door closing with a resolute click. Once again she was alone with Leo, and the silence between them was long enough to be awkward.

'_I guess I should have told you where we are going today, then you wouldn't have panicked with Libby,_' he said. Ruva didn't respond, just continued looking at her hands. '_I want to show you what we normally do during the summer, so I wanted to take you to – to our beach._'

Ruva stiffened at the words. Leo _wanted_ to take her to the beach – to the _water_– despite knowing her fear of it.

Why?

Ruva wasn't sure if she had projected the question, or if Leo answered on his own accord. '_I guess… I guess I just wanted to see you being happy, and the beach is a place that makes me feel that way._'

Ruva was touched by what Leo said, he wanted to see her happy, wanted to _make_ her happy.

But that scared Ruva, too.

Because the ribbon between them was growing darker, something that she knew would influence her entire life, yet… she had no idea what it would do.

What use were her ribbons when they didn't tell her what would happen in the future? They only helped her see things as they are, not as they will be.

Any ribbon could sever, at any time. Ruva knew – she _knew_ – that a severed ribbon was the same as a broken heart. Her parent's death had snapped her, changed her in more ways than she would ever realise.

She was afraid of change.

Ruva was drawn from her thoughts by Leo squeezing her shoulder. '_You don't have to come if you don't want to, but I want you to. You don't even need to go into the water, you can just stay on the sand._' Leo looked straight into Ruva's eyes, snaring her gaze. '_Will you come? Please, for me?_'

Ruva knew it was best to stay here. She would get to do something relaxing, with most of Leo's siblings out of the house, she wouldn't anywhere near the water, maybe get to play with baby Milly.

But… Looking into Leo's eyes, at how he begged her to come, there was only one answer she could say.

"_Yes_."

…

Ruva was standing on the balcony, wearing a pair of running shoes she had borrowed from the giant wardrobe in the Girls' Room. Everyone else was on the balcony too, which made things more than a little crowded.

She carried her backpack, which had everything she had brought. Once they were finished at the beach, Ruva would bubble to the palace, so bringing her bag with her was the best option.

Under her shorts and shirt, Ruva was wearing a soft orange one-piece swimsuit, despite the fact that she had no plan of going anywhere near the water. Everyone seemed eager, and Ruva again wondered why they had gathered on the balcony, when a bubbler vial could be activated anywhere. She also wondered why Tia had made her put on the running shoes, when sandals or slip-on shoes would be more suitable for the sand.

Tia was wearing a large backpack that was mostly empty, which Ruva found odd. Greg and Rob were also wearing empty backpacks, but Ruva could see theirs had two large holes cut in the bottom, making it ineffective to hold anything.

Finally, Mrs Wendyl walked out with the young twins, Matt and Lisa. "Don't be overconfident," said Mrs Wendyl while looking at Greg, "Take the easier route, and make sure you see how Ruva copes."

_Cope with what?_ Thought Ruva. _Is she just talking about the water?_

Greg nodded, before dragging a chair over to the wall, next to the roof. He turned to Matt and Lisa, saying, "Who is going with me this time?" Both kids jumped about, shouting "pick me pick me!"

Greg eventually picked Lisa, telling the disappointed Matt that he went with him last time. Matt walked off, but Ruva could see he wasn't grumbling as he saw the fairness of it.

Greg kneeled down, his backpack brushing the chair against the wall. Lisa seemed to know exactly what she was doing, because she unzipped the empty backpack, and jumped inside it. Her legs went through the holes at the bottom, and Ruva realised that the backpack was a child carrier, to make it easier for Lisa to go with all her siblings.

Looking across the balcony, Ruva could see that Matt had done the same thing in Rob's backpack.

Greg stood up on the chair. "Is everyone ready to go?"

Every single person on the balcony yelled their agreement, but Ruva only wrapped her arms around herself. Something didn't feel right, and Ruva doubted that they were bubbling to the beach.

Ruva saw Greg climb up the chair and onto the roof, causing her to freeze. _No! He's – we're not actually…_

Ruva didn't get to complete the thought, because she was distracted by Leo, who had just come onto the balcony. '_There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere!_'

She turned to watch Greg on the roof, with Lisa clinging around his neck. He started to run, right as Leo spoke.

'_I've been trying to tell you!_' he said, as Greg moved faster and faster. '_We're not bubbling to the beach,_' –Greg came closer and closer to the edge, and Ruva's breathing seized up– '_We're going roof running!_' he said, just as Greg jumped off the roof, soaring through the air…

…And landed perfectly on the roof next door.

All of the kids cheered, and they all stormed towards the chair and onto the roof. Tia was beside the chair, helping mitigate the flow of children.

Leo grabbed Ruva's hand, pulling her forwards. '_Come on! It's incredible, Ruva. I know you'll love it, you just have to take the first step._'

Ruva gulped, but let Leo help her up onto the roof, and to the far edge. '_Just run, if you overthink the jump it becomes impossible. You have to trust yourself, because I _know_ you can make this jump._'

Ruva nodded, taking a deep breath. She started to run, her hand still in Leo's. He pulled her forward, their speed increasing more and more.

They reached the edge, pushing off as one.

Ruva was flying.

The ground was far below her, and she was as weightless as a feather.

The air rushed past her face, and she turned to Leo.

He was smiling, looking as relaxed as she'd ever seen.

They landed on the other side, Ruva gasping as the weightlessness disappeared.

Ruva smiled at Leo, unable to help herself. He smiled back, not breaking his gaze until Rob yelled from the other side for them to get out of the way.

Leo pulled her forward, giving her advice as they went. '_This is a metal roof, you have to walk along the lines of screws or you could dent it._' They travelled diagonally from the corner, rising up and running along the highest point. '_On a roof like this, the safest spot to be is at the very top, where it will support your weight best._'

Ruva admired Leo's confidence in what he was doing. He seemed so _outgoing_, fully in his element. As they ran, they were surrounded by delighted shrieks and laughter. Kids ran around them, cutting in front and chasing each other around. Whenever someone tripped, another would grab their hand until they were steady.

Ruva jumped between rooftops, her arms outstretched like she could fly. Overwhelmed by emotions, Ruva could only find one word to describe herself.

Free.

Leo ran alongside Ruva, her normal anxious look nowhere to be seen. Whenever she jumped, she spread her arms out as if she was a bird. Her long hair followed in a golden cascade, blowing in the wind with a life of its own.

He loved the way she moved. She weaved in and around things, almost seeming to glide. She would suddenly pivot on one foot, then launch into a cartwheel. It always seemed so spontaneous, but at the same time she seemed to plan her every move.

He felt his knees weaken when she looked at him, the biggest smile he had ever seen on her face. Leo would do anything to see that smile, _anything_.

On his first day at Akarnae, Leo had stayed at the back of the group. No one had made the effort to talk to him, and he found it too hard to initiate conversation. He had envied everyone, they talked with such ease, never appreciating the voice they had.

He had never _heard_ the sound of his own voice.

But then Arra and Ruva had sat at his table, and Leo found he couldn't concentrate. Ruva was pretty, not the glamorous beauty found in fairy tales, but _soft_. _Clean cut_. He patiently answered Arra's questions, intrigued by the fact that Ruva hadn't once spoken.

He came to learn that Ruva spoke with her whole body, somehow knowing when words weren't enough. It was beautiful, the way she spoke without speaking.

On New Year's Eve, he learnt that Ruva hadn't lived the easiest life. Her parents were murdered in front of her, and somehow she absorbed her father's gift. She had always seemed so delicate and fragile, but she had a core of steel. That night when he put her in bed, he realised that he liked her. He hadn't been able to resist kissing her hand, especially after seeing how she didn't want him to leave.

And then… there was last night. He told her things that he wouldn't tell anyone else, watched her struggle with insecurity. They were standing so close, close enough that he could see the individual hairs falling across her face. She had smelt like peaches, like a summer's day.

It was overwhelming – _she_ was overwhelming – he hadn't been able to resist leaning in, trying to kiss her.

But then she pulled away, walked off. But at the last moment, she had looked back, her eyes telling him everything words could not.

Leo wished Ruva hadn't pulled away, he wished that she had kissed him back. But, he wanted Ruva to be happy more than anything else. If being her friend, nothing more, made her smile, Leo would do it. Over and over, he would move mountains to see her smile.

But he couldn't deny what he felt for Ruva, even if… even if she would never return it.

…

They moved closer and closer to the water, Ruva could smell the salt in the air. Her hair was now very tangled from the run, but she was too relaxed to care.

The Wendyls stopped on top of the shop, Mrs Gribble's Cupcakes and Nibbles. They took turns nimbly climbing down the side, everyone trying to show off.

Nick and Matt slid down a drainpipe, Matt squealing with joy when they reached the bottom. Libby had jumped into the open air, landing on top of a metal-lidded dumpster.

It was Ruva's turn to jump next, and she gulped. Leo squeezed her hand. '_You don't have to do anything fancy. Just climb down, Ruva._'

Ruva nodded, and climbed down as quickly as she could.

Leo didn't show off like everyone else, he just jumped down, landing in a crouched position. He stood up, offering another beaming smile to Ruva.

But with Ruva's feet planted firmly on the ground, she remembered the ribbon between them, and everything she had walked away from last night.

So instead of returning the grin, Ruva's eyes dropped to her feet. She knew that he was disappointed, but not _at_ her, just… for her. Ruva wished she knew what he was thinking, but seeing ribbons wasn't the same as reading thoughts.

Once they were all down on the ground, Tia led them through two more busy streets, and they arrived at the Tryllin docks. Ruva shuddered, the water was so dark, and deep enough for boats to dock. _Deep enough for creatures bigger than fish_, she thought.

She walked along the docks with the Wendyls, none of them stopping until they reached the end of the wooden section of the docks. The concrete section lay in front of them, housing larger and more industrial ships.

Instead of continuing like Ruva thought they would, they stopped in front of the small ladder, and Ruva's stomach dropped.

Ruva begged that they weren't doing what she thought they were doing, but her worst fears were confirmed. Rob tore off his shirt, pulled off his shoes and socks and threw them to Tia, who caught them and put them in her backpack. When Rob was in only his board shorts, he jumped in, the splash hard enough that Ruva cringed.

She took in a stuttered breath, drawing Leo's attention. '_It's okay,_' he said. '_You don't have to go in the water, just follow what Tia does._'

At the moment Tia was collecting everyone's clothes and shoes before they jumped in, but Ruva doubted Leo meant _that_.

When they were the only three still out of the water, Tia cast a look at Leo, saying, "I'm guessing you just volunteered yourself to carry Greg and Rob's backpacks."

Leo nodded, but Ruva was surprised at Tia's bluntness. Tia and Leo started taking off their shoes and clothes until they were only standing in their swimwear. Ruva hurried to change too, putting her clothes in the backpack too. It was now full, and Ruva understood why Tia had brought it.

Looking at her own bathers, Ruva fought the urge to hide them, despite them being quite modest compared to the other swimwear she had tried on.

The one-piece was a soft orange, lined with pure white. Instead of seam lines underneath Ruva's arms, the suit was held together by a criss-cross of white, showing much more skin than Ruva was comfortable with. Her legs were bare, and Ruva could feel her hair brushing against them, almost at her knees.

Ruva turned around, noticing Leo staring at her. Heat crept up her cheeks, and Ruva resisted the urge to wrap her arms around herself.

Leo blinked, realising he was staring. He suddenly busied himself checking the straps on the backpack, and Ruva sighed in relief. His gaze on her was more than she could handle, especially in just her bathers.

"Come on," said Tia, "We're wasting time."

Tia walked to the ladder, Ruva following her. She could hear Leo behind her, but she didn't dare look back. Tia moved to the first rung on the ladder, and started to climb down. Ruva froze. She gripped onto the bar so hard her hand turned white.

She watched Tia climb down the ladder, watched her stop at the final rung. Ruva gripped the bar harder, something she hadn't thought was possible. Tia moved to the other side of the ladder, and Ruva couldn't see her anymore.

Ruva's curiosity drove her forward. She _needed_ to see if Tia was still on the ladder. She was so close – _so close_ – to that dark water, and if she fell in, Ruva would never know.

Ruva got down on her knees, not daring to take her grip off the railing. She leaned forward, centimetre by centimetre, until she could see Tia once more. The other Wendyls were laughing in the water, but Ruva couldn't process the sound, she was watching Tia, desperate to know what she would do next.

Ruva felt a light touch on her shoulder, and she whipped around, adrenaline flooding through her. Ruva relaxed her stiff posture when she realised it was only Leo.

'_It's okay,_' he said. '_You'll be okay._'

Ruva wanted to believe him, but she couldn't. She turned away, glancing back down to Tia. Except…

Tia wasn't there anymore.

Ruva inhaled so quick she felt lightheaded. _Where was she?_

Squeezing the bar tighter than she had ever done before, Ruva leaned further forwards, so that her head was almost upside-down. She scanned the water, looking at the individual faces, trying to find Tia's abrupt face.

There! Tia was hanging from the rafters of the wharf, swinging from beam to beam. She continued swinging towards a small patch of sand, one that rose above the water and sat against the concrete sides.

Ruva pulled herself back up. Was she meant to do that too? Did they expect her to dangle above the water, nothing keeping her there except her own grip?

No. Just _no_. She _couldn't_ do that.

Leo must have guessed what she was thinking, because he pulled Ruva up and made her face him. '_Look at me, Ruva,_' he said. '_You can do this. I know you can._'

Ruva took in a shaky breath, and gave a small nod.

Leo smiled, saying, '_I'll climb down with you._' He went down the ladder, and stood on the side opposite to Ruva's. Ruva took another breath, then stepped onto the first rung. The cold metal bit at her bare foot, but Ruva put her second foot on.

She went down to the next rung, then the next, then the next.

She stopped when she was face to face with Leo. He held the ladder loosely, nothing like Ruva's death-grip.

'_I'll do it first,_' he said. He reached up to the support beams of the jetty, bringing his hands off the ladder. His feet lifted off, and he hung unsupported. '_Now it's your turn,_' he said, holding out his hand and using the other to grip the wood.

Ruva couldn't move. Couldn't speak. Couldn't do _anything_.

The water slapped lightly against the ladder, and drops landed on Ruva's feet. They were so cold, and they spurred Ruva into action. She manoeuvred herself around the ladder, and moved up a rung so she was further from the water. Her breathing became faster, so fast that she started to feel lightheaded.

Leo took her hand from the ladder, and brought it up to the beams. Her hand clenched at the wood, more from reflex than thought.

'_Bring up your other hand, Ruva._'

She could feel the coarse wood on one hand, and the cold, rusted ladder in the other. If she brought her hand off the ladder, _nothing_ could stop her from falling in the water.

_I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't_

'_Stop,_' said Leo. '_You _can_, I know it._'

He pulled her second hand off the ladder, lifting her full weight up to the beam.

Ruva gripped onto the bar. She was doing it! She was hanging above the water! She gave a small smile to Leo, but, remembering the previous night, turned to gaze back at her hands.

Leo didn't notice, – or pretended not to notice – he simply said, '_come on, Tia's waiting for us._'

Leo swung forward, the two empty backpacks scraping against each other. He reached to the next beam, and swung across like he was on the monkey bars. Ruva gathered her strength and swung too, the action familiar as breathing.

Ruva's fear from before melted away. What she was doing, it was the same as climbing a tree. There was the chance that she would fall, but that was just part of the risk. The wood she gripped was sturdy, and Ruva felt comfortable with its strength. She continued to swing towards the beach, Leo following behind her.

She looked down from her hands to see Tia, tapping her foot impatiently on the sand. She was only a few swings away, but as she swung, her fingers fumbled for grip.

She panicked, swinging forward much too quickly. Her other hand missed its mark, and the brittle wood crumbled on her remaining grip. She took one last lunge at the beam, but her fingers slipped.

She fell.


	25. Chapter 25

**25**

Ruva fell through the air, towards the salty ocean water.

Her back hit the water first, the water slapped against her skin. Her head went under, she was back in that fearful, silent, underwater world. Her back hit the sand, and Ruva started to panic.

The water was all around her, trying to get into her mouth and nose, trying to swallow her whole. Ruva thrashed about, trying to push away the invading water.

Ruva pushed off the ground, her head rising above the water. She took a gasp of warm summer air, her feet finding purchase underwater. She continued panting, the water up to her elbows.

Droplets streamed down her face, Ruva didn't know if it was salt water or tears.

Leo was still hanging from above, swinging as quickly as he could to the sand. As soon as his feet met the ground he pulled off the backpacks, rushing into the water. Ruva was frozen, she couldn't do anything but look at the shadowy water surrounding her.

Leo reached her, and grabbed her pale hand. '_It's okay, Ruva. You're fine now._'

Tears still streamed down Ruva's face, dropping into the icy water.

It wasn't Leo's voice that brought her to awareness, it was the warmth of his hand on hers. She looked up, her eyes became captured in Leo's. His eyes looked warm too, and she could see the worry on his face.

Her breathing grew slower, and the shivers wracking her frame eased. '_You're okay, you're okay. Now come forward – no, don't look down, just keep your eyes on me._'

Ruva took a step forward, pushing through the water. Leo smiled at her, and she was momentarily stunned by his white teeth. Ruva never saw his teeth, because Leo never opened his mouth to speak. His teeth were so white compared to his tanned skin, perfectly straight and glistening.

Leo mistook her lack of movement as fear. '_Don't worry, I'm right here,_' he said. Leo clasped Ruva's free hand, seeping warmth back into her body. '_I won't leave you, so keep moving forwards._'

Leo's words touched Ruva, tunnelling deeper than she would ever admit.

_Keep moving forwards_.

The words seemed to echo around them, and Ruva marvelled at the simplicity, yet beauty of the message.

Ruva breathed in, then out. With her hands in Leo's, she kept moving forwards.

The water was at her elbows, then her hips, then her knees, then her feet. Leo didn't leave her, not for one step.

Ruva's feet touched the dry sand, and she smiled, even as her breathing stuttered. Leo mirrored the gesture, even as he unclasped his hand.

'_See? You're okay now._' He said, and a smile unwittingly stretched across Ruva's face. '_You're really strong, Ruva._'

Leo's shoulder twitched, like he was containing some impulse, and he turned away, moving towards the backpacks he had thrown moments earlier.

Ruva tried to speak, tried to say thank you, but she couldn't find the words. Instead she walked a little closer to Leo, her footsteps silent in the warm sand.

He picked up the backpacks, hanging it on the beams of the jetty. One of the rafters was covered in writing, different scrawls covering it. The largest piece of writing was in the centre, it read, 'Wendyl Waters'.

Leo noticed her gaze and said, '_Dad used to come here when he was a kid. He wrote Wendyl Waters on the beam, then his nickname underneath,_' he said, touching a faded name beneath the title. '_His siblings came and wrote their nicknames too, and that's where the tradition started. We've all got our nicknames up here too, and all of our cousins._'

Ruva walked over to the beam, a history of the Wendyls. "Is your nickname up here?"

Leo nodded, pointing to a name on the edge of the jumble. The ink was darker than the others, and the name was clear enough to read easily.

_Lion_.

The name was Lion, but it didn't suit Leo at all. He wasn't some loud, fierce tempered boy, but a silent, calm, _understanding_ person.

As if he had hear her thoughts, Leo said, '_When I was really little, everyone called me Leo the Lion. They said that one day I'd learn to roar, I just have to find the right time._'

Leo turned away, and walked to the water. '_Fourteen years and still no roar._'

Ruva went up to him, gently placing her hand on his arm. She tried to find something to say, some inspiring message to make him feel better, but she couldn't.

Leo pulled away. '_If it's okay with you… I just need some time alone._'

But before she could answer, Leo dived into the water.

Ruva's wet hair clung to her legs, but she didn't adjust it. All she could look at was the set of footprints in the sand, where Leo had been standing seconds before.

Tia placed a hand on Ruva's shoulder, making her jump. "Come sit over here," she said. "You're no use to anyone just standing there."

Ruva let Tia bring her back from the water's edge, and to a beach towel which they sat on.

"I can feel the cortisol running through you, what's wrong?"

Ruva pulled her knees to her chest, letting her dripping hair cover her face.

"Silent again, I should have guessed."

Ruva made no move, her silence telling more than words ever could.

"I don't know what happened between you two, but you need to know some stuff, Ruva." When Ruva didn't move Tia continued, "Leo seems so much brighter with you. Even when you aren't trying, he seems happier with you around."

Ruva lifted her head and looked into Tia's chocolate-brown eyes. "Just remember that, Ruva."

"Thank you," she said. It wasn't enough to attest to what Tia had told, yet it was all she needed to say.

Tia stood up and went into the water, leaving Ruva to drown in her thoughts.

…

Ruva stayed on the sand for the rest of the day, watching everyone play in the water. At one point they all came out for lunch, feasting on the fish and chips Greg bought. Ruva wasn't hungry, but she ate anyway, the salty chips hiding the bitter taste in her mouth.

Leo was next to her, but he didn't say anything. Ruva squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back.

It was enough.

…

Soon after, it was time for them to go home. The tide rushed in, covering all the sand in an inch of water. Ruva flinched as the wave hit her skin, she now understood why they had hung the bags up high.

"TIME TO GO!" called Tia, as she stood on the sand. The Wendyls now moved with purpose, until they were all up on the sandbar. Leo stood at the back of the group, the water up to his knees. Ruva couldn't stop looking at him, wondering what he could be thinking.

As if sensing her gaze, Leo looked up, giving the slightest smile to Ruva.

Something fluttered in Ruva's belly, and she found herself imagining Leo's hand in hers, and how his arms would feel around her. Ruva's cheeks reddened, and Leo gave a questioning look. But before he could ask her, Tia interrupted.

"Head count, everyone stay still." Everyone obliged, and Tia counted under her breath. Eventually she said, "Eight Wendyls, and one Ruva. Looks like we're good to go."

Ruva felt a rush of dread, realising that she'd have to swing across the water once more.

But before she could become too uneasy, Leo interrupted her. '_We're not going back the way we came._'

Ruva wondered how Leo could know what she was thinking, but he answered that question, too.

'_You're nervous, I can see it in your eyes. Anyway, we're getting back by going through the stormwater pipes, then we'll see if we can find a cart._'

Watching Tia, Ruva knew that Leo was right. The older girl stepped into a large stormwater pipe, something she had failed to notice until now. Once inside, Tia only had to stoop slightly, and she beckoned everyone else forward. Everyone started to move forward, Matt and Lisa sitting in backpacks once more.

Ruva gulped, but followed behind, Leo ending up by her side. He reached for her hand, but hesitated, then pulled back. Ruva didn't know what to make of the gesture, so she continued forwards, the light behind them slowly disappearing.

They continued walking, only talking in quiet whispers. Light appeared regularly from drains, sending bars of light into the silent space. It was cooler down there, a relief from the sweltering summer heat. They heard muted sounds from above, a hum of voices, a snatch of laughter.

Not trusting her own voice, Ruva mentally sent to Leo, '_Where are we? How much further do we have to walk?_'

Leo answered straight away. '_I'm not too sure where we are, but soon we'll reach the main sewers. Hopefully then we'll find a cart, and that makes things easier._'

'_A cart?_'

'_Yeah, the SSM people – that is, the Stormwater and Sewers Management – use carts to take them to the drains they need to get to. They hardly ever come down here in the summer, so they don't notice when we borrow one._'

Ruva didn't respond straight away, she had questions about how the carts worked, and how legal it was for the Wendyls to 'borrow' them.

Eventually she decided on a question, saying, '_Why don't they just use bubbledoors?_'

At that moment, the drain they were in widened out, joining onto a larger tunnel. Greg turned left, and everyone followed him. Lisa started chattering to Matt, both of them comfortable in the bigger tunnel. Libby started balancing on a ledge, wobbling every so often.

But Ruva's attention was drawn to two metal bars on the opposite side. The bars were indented into the ground, going further into the tunnel than she could see.

Leo noticed her gaze. '_Those are the rails that the carts use, and as to your question, all the tunnels look the same. You have to picture where you're going before you step through a bubbledoor, but it would just drop you in any random tunnel, which is why SSM use carts._'

Ruva continued walking, intrigued by this part of the city she'd never seen before. They were all barefoot, but the stone was smooth with age.

Sometime later, they arrived at a large platform, elevated from the rest of the tunnel. The tracks rose up to meet it, and Ruva could see a ladder coming down from the roof.

'_This is one of the stations, where SSM workers enter and leave the pipes._'

Greg climbed up to the platform, "There's a cart here, but it's going to be a squish," he said. Greg helped them all climb up, Ruva's eyes widening when she saw their supposed transport.

The cart was nothing but a slab of metal, surrounded on all sides by railing. It seemed designed to hold one to four people, making more trouble for the rest of them. In the front corner there was a single chair with a blank screen, where she guessed Greg was going to sit.

Greg climbed over the railing, doing exactly what Ruva predicted. He beckoned the rest of them over, and everyone started piling in.

Tia claimed the corner, letting Lisa sit on her lap. Matt held onto Rob, who stood up, holding the railing. Libby and Nick sat in the last available space, and Ruva couldn't see anywhere she could fit.

'_Come on, Ruva. There's no space for us, so we'll have to hang on the back,_' said Leo.

Ruva's eyes widened, her breathing increasing once more.

'_You'll be fine, it's just like Finn's obstacle course, and you can do that easily._' Ruva let Leo guide her hands to the bar, and he stood next to her.

Greg pushed a button, the screen bright enough to make them squint. He typed a location into the monitor, and was about to press start when Tia interrupted him.

"It's Access Point Four-_Seven-Two_, not Four-_Two-Seven_."

"No," replied Greg. "It's definitely Four-Two-Seven."

Tia rolled her eyes. "Fine, let's see where this takes us."

Greg pushed the button, and the cart started to move. It approached the end of the platform slowly, and Ruva relaxed her grip.

'_Hold tight,_' said Leo. '_This is only the beginning._'

Ruva squeezed the bar just as the cart reached the end of the platform. It rolled down the small slope…

…Then shot like a bullet from a gun.

Ruva's hair whipped back, the wind buffering her face. Her white hands gripped the bar, and it took all of her focus to keep holding on.

Sunlight from the drains went past so fast it seemed to flicker, but Ruva started to smile. She was moving so fast, faster than Dancer could ever ride. It felt like she was flying, the flashes of light becoming twinkling stars.

Leo turned towards her, and Ruva couldn't help but smile. He smiled back, his white teeth dazzling her.

'_I knew you'd love it,_' he said, his words louder than the wind.

Eventually the cart started to slow, and Ruva breathed deeply. She buzzed with unused energy, but she was definitely ready to be back on steady ground.

Leo, however, frowned. '_It should've taken longer than that._'

Ruva cocked her head, but he didn't elaborate.

The cart pulled up to a platform, and everyone started piling off. Tia walked up the stairs with caution, making sure she didn't make too much noise. Everyone followed behind her, blinking as the came back into the sunshine.

Once Ruva's eyes had adjusted, she knew that they weren't in the right place. They were surrounded by big buildings with imposing logos, not the relaxed, suburban area they needed.

"I _told_ you this wasn't the right spot," said Tia, pressing her lips together.

Greg sighed, mumbling an apology.

Ruva could see the palace behind the buildings. It was much closer than before, and the gardens and forest surrounding it would be only a few blocks away.

Then it hit her, Ruva had forgotten that she was going to bubble home! She should have been home half an hour ago, Sela and Corbin could be worried.

Ruva pulled her TCD out of her bag, checking to see if she had any messages.

Luckily, her inbox was clear, the only message she had was from the previous night.

'_We have to head back now,_' said Leo.

Ruva nodded, but then she had an idea. "I want to go to the palace from here," she said.

Leo blinked. '_Okay, you can bubble from here if you want._'

Ruva shook her head. "I mean, I want to go roof running to the palace," she reiterated.

Leo smiled, but the expression didn't reach his eyes. '_If you say so._' He was silent for a moment, then said, '_I just told Tia what we're doing, and she's fine with it._'

They started walking along the street, until Leo found a drainpipe they could climb up, bringing them to the roofs of the city.

Leo was strangely silent, and Ruva wondered what was wrong. He ran with the same confidence as before, but every now and then he would stumble, and Ruva knew he wasn't okay.

Ruva wanted to say something, but she could think of nothing to make him feel better.

They stopped at the stone walls that bordered the palace grounds. The wall seemed so imposing, and Ruva had never seen it from the outside.

Ruva had never seen Leo look so unhappy. He held his chin high, trying to hide whatever hurt him, but Ruva saw straight through the act.

Leo's words from before echoed through her head.

'_Fourteen years and still no roar._'

Then, Ruva knew what to say.

"I…" she started, not continuing until Leo looked up.

"I still hear you, even though you don't roar."

Leo looked at her, his eyes widening at what he saw. He rushed forward, wrapping her in an embrace. His arms fit perfectly around her waist, and she was overwhelmed by how much he conveyed through such a simple gesture.

Leo pulled back, keeping his arm on Ruva's. '_Thank you._'

It was a simple phrase, but Ruva heard all the words he didn't say.

Ruva brought the bubbler vial out of her backpack, pressing it into Leo's hand. He didn't say anything, just let her go and pocketed it.

Ruva took a running leap from the roof, landing on top of the wall. She turned back to Leo for one final moment, before she jumped down, landing in the palace grounds.

…

She was gone, and Leo was on his own once again. His heart thrummed at what she had told him, the words exactly what he needed to hear. She had seen straight through his act, and found a way to make him feel better.

Leo had hugged her, and she hugged him back, her delicate arms fitting around him perfectly.

It had been hard – so _hard_ – to pull away, when all he wanted to do was kiss her, but he had done it. Leo was to be her friend and nothing more, just as she wanted.

He had so many things he wanted to say, but he couldn't find the words for them all at once. Leo had managed two, but she understood, like she always did.

Leo could call out to Ruva now, if he wanted. His gift was growing stronger, and he felt barely any strain when talking to her. She could talk back to him, too, something that nobody else could do. But… what could he say? What could he tell her?

Leo missed Ruva's company, her tiny smiles and silent movements. Talking to her wouldn't be enough, to hear what she was really saying he would need to watch her.

Leo looked at the vial in his hand; his ticket home. He was full of energy, enough energy to run to Mardenia and back.

Eventually he pocketed the vial, running back across the roof. Every time he jumped, Ruva's words echoed in his head.

_I still hear you, even though you don't roar._

The words were beautiful – _perfect_ – and exactly what he needed to hear.

Leo ran across the city, all the way back to his home.

…

Ruva came back from a ride with Dancer late in the evening, and was brushing him down in the stable. Her thoughts kept returning to everything that had transpired, and she whispered of it to Dancer.

"… I told him that I could hear him even if he didn't roar, and then he hugged me," Ruva sighed, not speaking for a few moments. "He smelt like herbs, like lemon and thyme."

Ruva put the brush down, and Dancer nuzzled her. "Is Leo the one who is linked to you?" asked Dancer.

Ruva frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Is he connected to you through a pink ribbon?"

Ruva's stomach dropped, realising everything that had happened that afternoon. She stumbled back, knocking into the stable wall.

"Ruva! What is wrong?" asked Dancer, her ears twitching.

Ruva slid down, hugging her knees against her chest. "H-he's falling in love with me, Dancer. I can't believe I didn't see it today." Ruva stopped, her hands reaching for her necklace.

"I'm scared, Dancer. I don't know what to do."

Dancer lowered her head, so she was eye to eye with Ruva. "Then I will be scared with you, Ruva Equine Speaker."

Ruva stood up, then wrapped her arms around one of her oldest friends. She didn't say anything, because she had no words that could convey how she felt.

Ruva didn't let go for a long time, not until her nerves were gone and she felt calm once more.

When Ruva pulled away, she activated her second gift, prepared to see the worst. Her fears were confirmed when her pink ribbon seemed a shade darker. Her knees wobbled, but she stayed standing, using Dancer as support.

"What do those markings say?" asked Dancer, no louder than a nicker.

Ruva glimpsed closer at the ribbon, realising that there was small writing running along the length of ribbon. She touched the writing carefully, as if it was poisonous.

She heard two voices, and Ruva felt sick all over again.

The first was her own voice, saying, '_I still hear you, even though you don't roar._'

The second voice was Leo's. '_I won't leave you, so keep moving forwards._'

The words were beautiful – _perfect_ – and they meant so much to them both.

Ruva's knees wobbled once more, and only her grip on Dancer kept her standing. "What can I do?" she whispered. "How can I stop this happening?"

Dancer nuzzled her again, saying, "I don't know, Ruva. Just try to make the best of each day."

Looking at Dancer's dappled grey coat, Ruva was reminded vividly of her wild sister. "Do you miss Moonrunner?" she asked, watching Dancer for a reaction.

Dancer didn't try to hide her response. "Every day."

"We'll go back to Akarnae soon, so you can see your sister as much as you want."

She felt Dancer's moist breath on the back of her neck. "I can't wait."


	26. Chapter 26

**26**

The rest of Ruva's holidays flew by, and before she knew it, she was stepping back through the bubbledoor to Akarnae.

It was early evening when Ruva arrived, so she headed straight to the food court.

She blinked, noticing one table full of unfamiliar faces. It took a few moments for her to realise that they were the first years, and that she was now a second year.

Wow, she had been at Akarnae for a whole year.

Ruva walked over the second year table with a spring in her step. Arra, Leo and Harry weren't here yet, so she sat down, content listening to everyone else.

Eating her food, Ruva kept looking back at the doors, until Arra finally walked through them. She lit up at the sight of Ruva, rushing towards their table. She wrapped her arms around her quickly, before pulling up a chair and sitting beside Ruva.

"How was your holiday?" she asked, ordering a bowl of spaghetti.

"Relaxing," said Ruva, not wanting to discuss Leo's sleepover.

"Mine was jam-packed," said Arra while shovelling spaghetti in her mouth. "Mum's got me working full-time in the café, it was exhausting. I didn't have much time off, but you never called me or anything," she said, sounding hurt. "You never left any messages either."

Ruva just shrugged, it was hard for her to find the words she needed, making calling and messaging awkward. "I didn't have much to say."

When she stayed quiet, Arra said, "I understand. You and silence go hand-in-hand, you find it hard to get the right words."

Ruva looked at Arra, her small height and dark-amber eyes. She knew her so well. She nodded once, "Yeah."

Just then, Harry and Leo walked in, a suspicious stain on Harry's shirt.

They sat down across from them, Harry looked guilty, and refused to meet their eyes until he had ordered his meal.

When he finally looked up, Arra said, "What have you done this time, Harry?"

Harry rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling nervously. "Well, the short story is, it's baby vomit."

Ruva's eyes widened, she was not expecting _that_ answer.

Arra wasn't either. "I'm sorry, _what_ did you just say?"

Harry laughed again. "I guess you want the long story?" Arra gave him a look, so Harry started.

"You see, I was at Leo's house this afternoon and I was chasing his brother, Matt, around, when suddenly, Leo's mum came in…"

Ruva continued to listen to the story, a smile tugging her lips as Harry narrated. Ruva looked to Leo, and their eyes met.

His words from the beach echoed through her head once more.

_I won't leave you, so keep moving forwards_

She smiled again, unable to help herself. Ruva was drawn into his chocolate-brown eyes, then she noticed the conflicting emotions she saw there. He seemed so _torn_, but Ruva had no idea why.

She couldn't pull her eyes away from him, not until she heard Arra's clear laughter.

Ruva turned to Harry, tuning in just in time to hear the climax of his story.

"So I was still holding Milly as I rushed around trying to find my backpack – which was on my _back_ the entire time – and then Milly starts crying. So I'm trying to soothe her while looking for my bag, when she vomits on me!

I take Milly and give her back to Mrs Wendyl, and she directs me to the kitchen so I can clean my shirt, but in the hallway I tripped over a toy and went smashing into the ground. I rolled over, groaning, then I realised I had my bag from the start!"

Everyone at the table laughed, and, right on cue, lollipops appeared in front of them. Harry put the lolly in his mouth before continuing his story.

"So then I wallow in self-pity for a while before getting up and heading to the kitchen, but then Leo tells me it's time to go, so I rush out the door and outside. I say I'm ready to go, so we step through the bubbledoor and end up here, when I realise something…"

Harry paused, looking all around the table. "I left my backpack in the _kitchen_."

The whole table started laughing – Arra most of all.

Harry pulled the lollipop stick out of his mouth, putting it in a bag. "And that's the long story about this stain on my shirt."

Arra snorted, putting her own lollipop in its bag. "You really can tell a story, Harry."

Ruva's lollipop was finished, but she had forgotten about it. She was still listening to the conversations around the table. It wasn't until Arra elbowed her that she realised there was a bag in front of her. Ruva's cheeks flushed red, and she quickly put her stick in the bag.

Not a moment after her bag disappeared, schedules appeared in front of everyone, and Ruva eagerly grabbed at hers. She scanned through her lessons, noting that she was still in Karana for ES. She thought her results were the same as last year, until she noticed something different. She was in _Epsilon_ PE, not Delta, like last year.

Ruva gulped at the thought of being in not one, but _two_ Epsilon classes when she was only a second year. Arra nudged her and asked something, but Ruva didn't hear her.

All she could think of was how unlikely – how _impossible_ – it was that she was in Epsilon PE. Sure, she'd had years of experience in forests, and was fit and light on her feet, but her class would be filled with fifth years and apprentices. How could she be at the same level as them, when she was only _fourteen_?

Arra nudged her shoulder, bring Ruva back to awareness. "You okay, Angel? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Ruva didn't respond, not reacting even as Arra pulled the new schedule from her hands.

She watched Arra's eyes flicker as she read the schedule, unable to describe how she was feeling. While she would normally talk to Leo in these situations, the idea alone made Ruva nervous – _especially_ after their disastrous sleepover.

"Hey," said Arra. "You're in Epsilon PE now, that's good!" Arra paused. "Right?" her voice was quieter now, more careful.

Ruva shook her head, no longer frozen in place. Her hand rose to her Myrox necklace, squeezing the horse charm as if it would give her comfort.

"Are you worried it will be too hard for you?" she tried, even though they both knew that the aptitude test was foolproof.

When Ruva didn't answer, Arra tried a different approach. "Are you worried about not being with any of your friends?"

That was something Ruva hadn't thought of, but she couldn't say she wouldn't be relieved to spend less time around Leo.

Arra was silent as she tried to work out what was upsetting Ruva, but she placed her arm around Ruva all the same, offering physical comfort.

"Is it… Are you worried about being in Epsilon when the other second years are in Gamma and Beta?"

Ruva nodded, her gaze dropping to her food.

"Hey, don't be like that," she whispered, squeezing Ruva's hand. "You'll do awesome, you'll see."

Although the words were simple, they seemed to thrum with energy. She held her head a little higher, giving Arra a nod.

Arra smiled, recognising the look on Ruva's face.

"Good job, Ruva," she said, "Good job."

And then, Ruva's nerves disappeared.

…

The following day, Ruva arrived at the field for her first Epsilon PE lesson.

Although she had been confident last night, it was another thing to walk out to her lesson on her own, especially knowing she would be the only second year.

She had been right in thinking she would be the youngest in her class, with all of her classmates staying polite but distant. The only people in the class she knew were Kaiden and Declan, but she only saw them around the palace, never really talking to them.

Finn had grunted when he saw her amongst the group, but he hadn't commented, just ordered them all to start running. The pace was much faster than she was used to, Ruva had to put all her energy into keeping up with everyone else.

As the lesson continued, Ruva found herself more and more exhausted. But at the same time, it was invigorating. She felt incredible throughout the lesson, getting a rush of endorphins as she pushed herself harder. By the end of the session she was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, but she had a smile on her face.

…

And so the days passed in the same manner as last year, with Ruva struggling with her theoretical lessons and excelling in the practical ones. As it was, Ruva shared barely any of her potential classes with her friends, only Harry in Archery and Arra in Chemistry.

The most interesting change was in her additional ES lessons, where Tayla introduced her to a new category of tricks.

In the very first lesson of the year, Tayla made Ruva saddle up Dancer, showing her a variety of rescue manoeuvres. Ruva was immediately fascinated, she had never thought of using her riding skills like this.

Each week Tayla was going to show her a new trick, giving her the rest of the week to master it.

Ruva spent the first lesson learning how to grab an item from the ground while at a canter, then a gallop.

They used an apple for this exercise, and by the end of the lesson, Ruva was getting a firm grip on the apple three quarters of the time, managing to get back in the saddle about half the time.

The main problem was she kept getting tangled in the reins and stirrups, still used to riding bareback. Tayla eventually let her take off Dancer's gear, but warned her that she would struggle much more without reins to hold onto.

But as soon as Ruva tried, she found out that Tayla was right. Without reins to hold onto or stirrups to loop her foot through, it was near impossible to get back up, and she fell off more times than she cared to count.

She eventually relented, saddling Dancer up once more and trying again. She had a far higher rate of success that way, even if she did get tangled more than once.

Ruva no longer had any potential-based lessons with Leo, something she was very relieved in. It was hard enough sharing age-based classes, especially because every time he looked at Ruva, her feelings went all over the place.

Ruva _still_ didn't know what to think of her sleepover with Leo, and often opted not to think of it at all.

Ruva kept moving forwards, trying to ignore the past and stay calm.

That is, until her calmness was _shattered_.

It was the third week of the semester, and Ruva walked out to the field, ready for her PE lesson. It was good that the Epsilon class was the first lesson of the day, it was much cooler than having afternoon lessons, like last year.

Ruva was still tired from the previous night, tired enough that she didn't realise she was dressed differently to all the other students. Only when Finn arrived did Ruva recognise that everybody else was dressed in swimwear, while Ruva was in her normal clothing.

"Springden!" barked Finn. "Are you planning on swimming in your clothes? Get your act together!"

Ruva froze.

_Swimming_?

_No,_ she _could_ _not_ go in the water.

The only thing she managed to do was shake her head, the action so small that nobody noticed. She tried to speak, tried to tell Finn that she couldn't, but the words just couldn't form. It was like there was a hand around her neck, squeezing out any chance she had on speaking.

When words failed her, Ruva ran.

She ran past the group, dodging their attempts to stop her.

She ran past the lake, the dark water hiding many things.

She ran into the trees, their cool shadows feeling like home.

Ruva climbed up a tree, panting for breath.

Her thoughts kept turning back to what had just happened, she needed a distraction. So, Ruva activated her second gift.

She let go of all the normal restraints, the ones she reflexively used. The ribbons started to pull at her, wanting her to absorb their information. She didn't try to stop them, and let herself become fully immersed in the first ribbon that reached her, the one between her and Dancer. Ruva gripped the ribbon, watching every meaningful interaction between them.

After she had witnessed everything her ribbon had to offer, Ruva grabbed at the next ribbon, trying to forget what just happened to her.

As far as Ruva was concerned, going back wasn't an option.


	27. Chapter 27

**Hi everyone,**

**Recently I was asked if this fic was going to have some Kailex in it and honestly, I hadn't even thought about it.**

**I know that's what people love about TMC and I love it too, but I also care about the ordinary people.**

**Because TMC isn't all about Alex, it's about an entire world, a world that I love as much as she does. Although it is told from Alex's perspective, (and a bit from Bear, Dix and Jordan) there are hundreds of other people who also have a perspective and a voice. And in their story, they are the main character, they suffer and learn and grow just as much as anyone else.**

**And I care about them because in these difficult times, I'm just an average person. I'm not a doctor fighting to save people's lives from coronavirus, I'm not a President or Prime Minister, and my voice will never be remembered in history.**

**That's why I like writing about the ordinary people, because they deserve to be heard, too.**

**As for if there's going to be some Kailex, I don't know. I still don't know where Ruva will go next, and if her path will collide with Alex's.**

**Let's now hear the next part of Ruva's Story, someone who is considered ordinary, but is still an amazing person.**

**27**

Hours later, when Ruva had witnessed more ribbons than she could count, she started listening to the birds. They distracted her from everything she had done, with their dedication to menial tasks. Ruva smiled at their enthusiasm, leaning against the tree trunk. Her ribbons appeared around her, and Ruva's tension from earlier eased, watching them dance in the late afternoon light.

Ruva's attention was drawn to a nest above her, where she could hear six hatchlings, chirping meaningless words. They wouldn't learn how to speak for a few weeks, and until then, their mother wouldn't name them.

With her ribbons, Ruva could see an orange ribbon connecting the hatchlings to their mother. The mothering ribbon, she liked to call it, even though the ribbon was more than that.

It was a ribbon of admiration, who the hatchlings looked up to, whose example they followed. Such ribbons were constantly changing as they grew, but they were young enough that their only idol was their mother.

Ruva watched as the mother – a sparrow – took care of her five hatchlings, feeding and preening the helpless chicks. She nudged each bird in turn, all of them releasing a squawk. When she nudged the fifth bird, it didn't make a sound.

Ruva's heart ached for the bird, one she realised was the runt.

The mother nudged it once more, but it still didn't cry out. The mother nudged it harder, to the same result. The runt was nudged to the edge of the nest, and with a flick of her wing, the mother pushed the bird out of the nest.

The featherless hatchling fell, screaming in a way that only birds could.

Ruva lurched forward, catching the bird in her hand. Her other hand latched onto a branch, stopping her from falling.

She stood up on the branch, coming eye to eye with the bird. "Why did you drop your own hatchling?" She cupped the bird in her hands, the poor thing shivering with fright.

"That is no hatchling of mine," the bird said.

And without a moment more, it bit at empty air, but it didn't look empty to Ruva.

The bird bit at an orange ribbon, the one connecting it to the runt.

The ribbon snapped, and the hatchling let out a wrenching wheeze.

"No!" Ruva cried, reaching for the severed ribbon.

And without another thought, she tied the ribbon to herself.

The runt's shivering eased, and it looked to Ruva with expectant eyes. It didn't even notice its mother, who had already turned her attention back to her nest.

Ruva took in a deep breath, her hands shaking slightly at what she had done. She didn't know what to do, didn't know where to go.

She had tied a ribbon to herself, a ribbon that was never meant to be there. The little hatchling would admire her now, she had taken the place of its _own mother_.

Ruva held the bird closer, trying to calm her unsteady hands.

The bird let out a small squeak, a sound that made Ruva's heart melt. This was _her_ little bird, she decided, and she wouldn't let anything happen to it.

…

Leo stood just outside the food court, trying to work out where Ruva had gone. He hadn't seen her since breakfast – none of them had.

Harry walked out of the food court, eating a packet of chips. "Still looking for her?"

Leo nodded, scanning the students walking around, in case he might see Ruva. '_Are you sure you haven't seen her?_'

"Yes," said Harry with a smile. "Not since the last time you asked me, five minutes ago."

Leo sighed. '_It's just… something doesn't feel right. I don't know why, but I feel like something has happened._'

"Excuse me," said a voice from behind, making Leo jumped. He turned around, realising the voice was Marselle.

"Do either of you know where Ruva Springden is? She hasn't attended any of her classes today, and I know many teachers want to have a stern word with her."

Leo's stomach dropped. Ruva had been missing _all day_?

He couldn't bring himself to answer, so Harry did, instead. "Sorry, Sir, but we both haven't seen Ruva all day. Have you tried asking her roommate, Arra?"

The headmaster sighed, stroking his beard. "Arrabella doesn't know her whereabouts either, unfortunately. We'll have to keep looking for her, and please tell me or another member of staff if you find her."

"We will, Headmaster," said Harry.

Leo could only manage a nod.

As soon as Marselle was gone, Harry said, "Where could Ruva be? Why would she just disappear?"

Leo froze, Harry's statement making him realise something. '_Maybe something made her panic, and she ran off, but now she doesn't want to come back._'

Harry blinked. "Has she done that before?"

Leo nodded, his thoughts too crowded to try explaining.

Harry recognised the look on Leo's face, so he said, "Where would she go to avoid everyone?"

Leo already knew the answer. '_The forest._'

"Can your gift reach her there?" asked Harry, "It's definitely stronger now."

Leo shrugged. '_I'll give it a try._'

He pushed his thoughts to Ruva, an action that he likened to shooting an arrow. He felt the words flying through the air, further and further, looking for its target. Leo's energy draining as it flew, and just when he was at his limit, he felt his arrow meet its mark.

'_Where are you, Ruva? Everyone's been looking for you?_'

But there was no response to his question, Ruva was silent once more.

'_Are you okay?_'

If he could see Ruva, Leo would know what she was saying. He could read the small signals, the twitch of her lip, a flicker in her eye, they all spoke more meaning than words ever could.

Ruva finally responded, the words quiet from the distance between them. '_I'm in the forest and… I'm not okay._'

Leo froze, overwhelmed by the need to reach Ruva.

'_Don't worry,_' he said, using a softer tone. '_I'm coming, now. Just tell me where to find you._'

Ruva gave him the instructions to reach her, and Leo started running.

"Wait!" yelled Harry, Leo only just remembering that he was there. "Where are you going? Did you talk to her?"

Leo was already halfway across the field, shoving an explanation to Harry. He lost the precision that he normally used, some of his words becoming disjointed like when he first discovered his gift.

But he didn't care. Leo _needed_ to get to Ruva – needed to see if she was _okay_.

He ran into the forest, following Ruva's directions.

Leo dodged branches and tripped more than once on logs and roots, but he somehow managed to keep going. He lacked Ruva's grace and ethnicity in the forest, not once had Leo ever seen her lose balance or misstep while amongst the trees.

Branches slapped against Leo's arms, leaving red welts that would become scabs. But he couldn't stop – _he_ _couldn't stop_. Not until he saw Ruva, not until he knew that she was better.

Jumping over a fallen log, Leo stopped. He was in the clearing Ruva had told him about, but she wasn't there.

A movement caught his eye on the tree to his left.

It was _Ruva_.

She was climbing down with perfunctory grace, her attention was concentrated on a small bundle in her hands.

Ruva jumped, somehow landing silently on the leaf-covered ground.

'_I'm here, Ruva,_' said Leo, not daring to move.

Ruva's lips curled into a slight smile. "You're here," she echoed, her voice only a whisper.

Leo stopped, staring at Ruva.

His chest seemed to burn with radiant heat, she was just… _perfect_.

Her eyes were darker than usual, her lips pressed in a thin line. Loose strands of her hair fell across her face, giving Leo the urge to step forward and brush it aside.

_Be her friend, nothing more_.

The words were stark, echoing in Leo's head. But he knew better than to disobey them, especially when Ruva was in such a fragile position.

'_What went wrong?_' he asked. '_You were fine this morning, but then…_' Ruva had disappeared, nobody had seen her all day.

Her chin sunk, and Leo fought the urge to tilt it up.

_Be her friend, nothing more._

"Epsilon PE," she quietly said, her hands cradling the bundle. She looked up, her golden-blond hair falling across her face.

Ruva's eyes fell on his face, and he was enraptured by her. The way her hair fell across her face, the way she held his gaze, and the slight twitch of her jaw, as though she was forcibly pushing the words from her throat.

"I'm in Epsilon PE and… I don't want to go in the water."

Leo froze. Ruva was being so _vulnerable_, it took everything within him not to close the distance between them.

_Be her friend, nothing more._

'_You won't have to. I won't let them,_' he said, Ruva seeming to solidify at his words.

She offered the smallest smile, a smile that made his knees wobble.

Leo didn't speak. Didn't move.

_Be her friend, nothing more._

It was _so hard_ to control his impulses. If Leo let himself move, he didn't know what would happen. He might lean in, might go too far.

Far enough that Ruva would never let him come back.

_Be her friend, nothing more._

The thing Ruva was holding chirped, a smile touched Ruva's lips. Looking closer, Leo realised it was a small bird.

Ruva gave a small smile, stroking the bird's tiny fluffy head.

Leo stepped forward, bringing his hand towards the tiny creature. It seemed wary of him at first, but it let Leo slowly bring his hand closer until he was brushing the tiny feathers.

The bird relaxed, and Leo brought up the courage to look at Ruva.

It took everything within him to stay grounded at what he saw.

Trust and awe were radiating from her, and the fire inside of him doubled. It was amazing – _she_ was amazing. There were no words in any language to describe how he felt.

But as he watched Ruva's jaw twitch, Leo realised he didn't need words. Not for this. Not for _Ruva_.

_Be her friend, nothing more._

Ruva stepped forward, showing Leo she was ready to go back.

_Nothing more._

They started walking back, the silence between them telling more than words ever could.

_Nothing. More_.

They walked all the way back through the forest, until they finally reached the academy. The sun was going down, bathing the academy in golden light.

Ruva froze when she saw the lake, rippling like liquid gold.

Leo squeezed her hand, but Ruva still didn't move.

'_Ruva, look at me,_' he said, not continuing until she faced him. '_I'm not going to leave you, so keep moving forwards._'

Ruva stopped, looking at him in a way that she had never looked before.

There were _no words_ to describe it. Not one.

It was hard – _so hard_ – not to lean in when she looked at him like that. Like he was a star in her sky.

And so, Ruva kept moving forwards, Leo by her side.

They walked to the dorms, up to the top floor, all the way to Ruva's dorm. Leo was about to let go when Ruva squeezed her hand.

She was saying _thank you_, in her silent language more beautiful than any words. Leo squeezed back, relishing in her scent of peaches.

Then, he let go.

'_Sleep well,_' he said, before abruptly turning and almost running back down the hallway.

Leo had felt his self-control crumbling, being steadily chipped away until only a fraction remained.

If he had stayed a second longer, he had no idea what would happen.

He could've pushed too far, far enough that Ruva would never let him back.

_Be her friend, nothing more._

He would do _anything_ for her – even if she wanted him to do _nothing_.

…

A few hours later, Harry walked into the dorm, his jet-black hair falling into his eyes. "Did you find her?" he asked.

Leo nodded, incapable of speech.

"Is Ruva okay?"

Leo smiled as he heard the name, he felt like he was flying. Eventually he said, '_Yeah, she panicked because she was in Epsilon PE, and she thought she would have to get into the water._' Harry looked confused, so Leo explained more. '_Ruva has a fear of water, and she refused to get in the lake for PE lessons. She was worried that now she was in Epsilon, Finn wouldn't let her say no._'

Harry smiled, realising something unknown to Leo. "She's got aquaphobia, like my uncle used to have. He moved to the Soori desert just so he would never see rain."

Leo was surprised when Harry didn't explain more, it was the sort of event he could weave into a great story. Leo's thoughts drifted to Ruva once more, a smile touching his face.

Harry's TCD chimed, and he pulled it out. Once turning it on, he said, "Look, it's a message from Ruva."

Leo bolted upright, rushing to Harry's side so quick he almost tripped. However, once he saw the TCD screen, he realised it was blank. He blinked, then gave Harry a look.

Harry snorted. "Sorry, I just wanted to see how you reacted." He sent Leo a sidelong glance. "You _like_ Ruva, don't you?"

Leo smiled, resting back on the bed. '_I think… I think I love her._'

As soon as he said the words, he knew it was true. Everything about her, her small frame and golden-blond hair, how she moved like she was floating. He loved how her jaw twitched and the necklace she held when she was nervous, how her breathing sped up when she was worried.

But it was _more_ than that. He didn't just love how Ruva looked, but who she was inside, and how comfortable she made him _feel_.

With other people, Leo was constantly aware that he couldn't speak. He could carry out a conversation using his gift, but it never felt the same. But with _Ruva_, he felt at ease. She spoke through silence more than anything else, making Leo feel _normal_.

He had never, ever felt normal before he met Ruva, there had always been a fence between him and everyone else.

_Be her friend, nothing more._

If Ruva wasn't willing to cross that gap, Leo wouldn't force her, not for all of Medora. He would be nothing more than her friend, whatever it took to make her comfortable. Even if it hurt to keep Ruva at arm's length, he would do it. Again and again, to whatever end.

But… He couldn't deny how she had looked at him today. Like he was valuable, precious. Her smile had become something _more_, something he could never describe. He hoped he wasn't imagining it, that the smile had been normal, but in his heart he knew the truth.

Lying in bed, Leo dreamt that someday, Ruva would feel the same way he did. That she would hold him, and let him hold her. That she would clasp his hand, whisper comforts in his ear.

But it would have to remain exactly that. _Dreams_.


	28. Chapter 28

**28**

The next day, Ruva woke up to her bird's distressed chirping. She realised how hungry it must be, and how irresponsible of her it was to bring it into her dorm.

Yesterday she hadn't been thinking straight. She spent the entire day amongst the trees, too scared to face what was in front of her.

And then… _Leo_ had come.

Her bird had trusted him instantly, and he somehow found the words to bring her forwards.

But… it wasn't really Leo's words that had helped her, it was his presence. He had calmed her, stopped her from freezing up when they reached Akarnae.

_I won't leave you, so keep moving forwards._

He'd said that to her again, the words burrowing just as deep as they had the first time.

But he had seemed slightly… _strained_. Like he was putting all his effort into something else. He sometimes had that look when he was using his gift with others, but Ruva had never before seen that look directed at her.

She didn't know what to think, yesterday going through her head over and over.

Her bird chirped again, breaking her train of thought.

Ruva knew that she should have returned the bird to the forest, it was its natural home. But it would also be cruel to separate the bird from her, not with the mothering ribbon connecting them. She couldn't bear the thought of being separated from her bird, not when it was so helpless.

Arra had come and gone, falling in love with the tiny bird, just as Ruva had.

However, Ruva had blanched when Arra asked for the bird's name, something she was still indecisive about.

Ruva wanted her bird to be named the traditional animal way, meaning that she wouldn't name the bird until it began to speak, and have an animal title. There were other problems, too, like the fact that Ruva didn't know if the bird was male or female. She wasn't _at all _inclined to find out, either.

Ruva calmed her bird, deciding to take it to the clinic. Varin would know what it ate, he would probably enjoy trying to identify it.

She quickly changed and headed to the Clinic, pleased to find Varin there despite the early hour.

Varin looked up as soon as she entered, his eyes going straight to the bird.

"Look!" he said, gruff voice echoing in the empty space. "This bird must be only a few days old. And look at that beak! Do you recognise what species this is?" he asked, directing the question to Ruva.

Ruva looked closer at the bird. Although she had found it in a sparrow's nest, she now realised that it wasn't a sparrow. The beak was the wrong shape, and its talons were too small. "I found it in a sparrow's nest, but it's not a sparrow," she shrugged, noticing Varin's excitement.

"This is a _Bluebell Finch_," he said, his enthusiasm palpable. "They're critically endangered, and there hasn't been a single sighting for years!" he exclaimed.

Ruva looked at the tiny bird – the Bluebell Finch – she hoped Varin could find food for it, especially after hearing how rare they were.

After an hour – most of which Varin spent documenting her bird and its characteristics – Varin let her leave with enough food to last the bird a few days. He had been adamant about examining the bird every three days, documenting its growth and feeding habits. Apparently there was very little known about bluebell finches, and Ruva caught Varin mumbling more than once about species preservation and the scientific community.

Eventually he let her leave, if only because she needed to prepare for her first class.

Ruva took Tua back to her dorm, making sure she was warm and comfortable, leaving out some food for the tiny thing.

Ruva headed off to her first class, but her mind was occupied by the tiny bird, which she checked between every lesson.

…

At the end of the day, Ruva returned to the gen-sec, ready for her additional Core Skills lessons.

Marmaduke gave her a sheet as soon as she entered, gesturing for her to sit down. Ruva sat at the closest desk, trying to answer the questionnaire about her gift. Some questions were easier to answer, things like identifying the signs meaning she was at her gift's limit.

The answer to that was obvious, her headaches and tiredness were always a sure sign.

Other questions were much more difficult, making Ruva think hard to find the right words. One such question was acknowledging what pushed her gift further, therefore making overusing it more likely. At first Ruva had no trouble listing factors, like the amount of time or number of people she used with her gift, but then she was stumped. What else made her gift harder to use?

As if knowing what she was thinking, her ribbons activated around her, her gift ribbon moving towards her hand. Ruva frowned at the movement, she hadn't tried to summon anything – not the least of which activated her gift.

Ruva still hadn't tried to summon any ribbons since her accident, she _still_ couldn't turn off her gift at will. She had always assumed that it wouldn't work, just like all the other difficult abilities she'd once had.

Maybe – just _maybe_ – she still had this skill, and just never thought to use it. Ruva took a deep breath, then willed a yellow ribbon into her hand.

Nothing happened.

Ruva tried again, putting all her concentration into that ribbon, only for the same result. She sighed, releasing her mental grip of the ribbon.

Ruva didn't bother trying to deactivate her gift, instead concentrating on her sheet through the ribbons. But as soon as her attention moved, the yellow ribbon glided to her hand, stopping just a fraction away.

A smile touched Ruva's lips.

She summoned another ribbon, this time a white one. But instead of putting all her will into making it come, Ruva nudged at it, encouraging it towards her. The ribbon slowly moved, stopping outside Ruva's hand once more.

Ruva smiled again, a bigger smile this time.

She coaxed forward more ribbons, the results becoming more and more substantial. Ruva realised that the ribbons wouldn't obey her if she forced her will upon them, only if she asked them to come from their own volition. Her ribbons were _sentient_, for lack of better word. They had a will of their own, and didn't like being forced around.

Ruva had found a way to summon ribbons, an ability she'd thought long gone.

…

Ruva's days developed a pattern, with her going out every morning into the forest with her bird. It was late autumn, the air cold enough to bite.

Ruva sat underneath an apple tree, stroking her bird until it woke.

It was now almost three weeks old, according to Varin, only days away from speaking.

Ruva was running out of time for coming up with a name, she knew she couldn't push it aside much longer.

The birds started to gather around Ruva, and she politely listened to their questions and did her best to answer them. She asked very few of her own, she was content speaking of her own life.

Birds were easy for Ruva to speak to, more so than horses or any other species. They lived constantly in the moment, never worrying for the future and never looking back. It was easy to make mistakes around them, too, because birds – unlike people – didn't hold grudges or regrets. They treated you as how you were acting in the current moment, never thinking of the mistakes of the past.

So Ruva enjoyed their company, they treated her as who she is, not who she was or who she could be.

And then, Ruva's bird hopped onto her knee. It looked up to her with adoring eyes and chirped, the sound translating to _Ruva_.

Ruva blinked, staring at her bird. It had _spoken_, its first word _her_ _own name_. The next words Ruva said to it had to be its name, a name she hadn't come up with.

She searched through her brain, looking for anything – _anything_ – that would be a suitable name. Her ribbons activated in the mad rush, but they didn't give any help – not that she expected them to flash a name down from the heavens, but a pointer would be helpful.

No matter how hard she searched, she still came up with nothing.

Her bird was still looking at her, waiting for an answer.

Ruva blurted the first phrase that came to mind. "Tua!"

It sounded like _Too-Wuh_, but Ruva couldn't change it now. She paused, needing to come up with the rest of her bird's – _Tua's_ – title.

"Tua… Human Named," Ruva said to her bird. "You are Tua Human Named."

"Ruva!" Tua chirped.

The birds around Ruva all twittered, recognising the monumental moment. Tua just chirped again, hopping up Ruva's arm and resting in the crook of her neck.

She smiled at Tua's enthusiasm, managing not to flinch as the tiny bird dug its talons into her neck. She had _named_ her bird, given it the title it would use for the rest of its life.

"Ruva!" Tua chirped once more, right into Ruva's ear. Ruva winced at the high-pitched sound, deciding it was time to go back to Akarnae.

The air smelt of decaying leaves as she walked back, the sun peeking over the horizon. She broke through the trees to see the academy in the golden light of dawn. It always looked most beautiful then, the buildings glinting from dew.

Surprisingly, Ruva could see nobody outside, even though it was Sunday. Although, given the ever-increasing amount of assignments they were being given, Ruva didn't blame them for sleeping in.

As it was, Ruva had a giant pile of homework and assignments that were due before the Kaldoras break, now only a week away. As much as she wanted to spend time outside, the pile on her desk was too big to ignore. She'd probably have to spend the entire day inside, working into the pile of homework before it was due next week.

Stopping briefly in the food court to grab some breakfast, Ruva headed back to her dorm, unsurprised to find Arra gone.

Ruva finished her breakfast – a buttered croissant – as she sat down, the ominous pile of papers bigger than she thought.

Placing Tua down in a makeshift nest made from Ruva's beanie, she grabbed her pencil and the first sheet from the pile. She tried to concentrate on her Medical Science homework, about the unusual health benefits of Korso bear saliva, but she was really struggling.

The main reason she was distracted, however, was not because of the difficult homework. The cause of her struggle was none other than her bird.

Tua chirped almost continuously, some of her words meaningless chatter but mostly just her name repeated over and over. Ruva tried blocking her ears, trying to focus on the questions in front of her. But it didn't work, Tua's high-pitched cheeping seemed to pierce through everything.

But still, Ruva kept trying, reading through her notes and trying to finish the three-hundred word task.

After what felt like _hours_, Ruva put down her pencil, picked up Tua and started stroking her. Her bird immediately quietened, adjusting its feathers slightly.

A smile pulled at Ruva's lips as she admired her bird, which she knew would one day be a sight to behold.

When she had first found the bird, its feathers had been so small that they were nothing more than a light fluff, barely hiding Tua's pink skin.

Her feathers were much thicker now, and more evenly spaced. They spanned along Tua's wings in many shades of blue, the tips being a blue so light and vivid it almost hurt Ruva's eyes.

Whilst Tua's wings and tail had delivered magnificently, the head was still patchy, causing it to fluff up at awkward angles. Combined with Tua's reflecting black eyes, she seemed both regal and adorable.

Ruva's TCD buzzed, making her jump.

She placed Tua back into her beanie, continuing to stroke her with one hand while she reached for the TCD.

Once she had it open, she saw it was from Arra. She opened the holo-message, blinking from the sudden light.

"Hey, Angel, just checking that you're back from the forest safe and sound," she said, giving a smile. "If you're up for it, come down to the rec room," –Arra stopped talking, looking at something Ruva couldn't see. She started snickering before turning her attention back to the screen. "Sorry, I've got to go, Harry just challenged Savannah to a dance-off and I do _not _want to miss that. Still, come down if you're in the mood, you won't be disappointed. Bye!"

Ruva smiled at seeing Arra in such a good mood, the glimmer in her amber eyes brighter than usual.

It wasn't every day she seemed so happy, Ruva wished she felt the same. But after attempting at her homework for an _hour_ with Tua shrieking at her the entire time, Ruva couldn't say she was in a sociable mood.

Arra would be fine without her company, ignoring the fact she wanted to stretch her legs. Ruva stood up, letting the blood flow through her stiff legs. Walking across the room, she opened the window, letting in the icy late-autumn air. She took in a deep breath of the fresh air, goosebumps prickling along her arms. Tua seemed calmer now, too, the vibrant blue bird calming its frantic chirping.

Feeling refreshed, Ruva sat back down at her desk, getting stuck into the pile of homework.

…

Ruva felt someone shake her shoulder, and she opened her bleary eyes. Her head was pressed against the desk, she could feel paper and pencils digging into her face. She sat up, groaning at the pain in her neck.

Blinking against the dorm lights, Ruva realised she had fallen asleep on the desk.

"Wakey, wakey, Ruva," said Arra, trying to hide her smile. "I'm glad to see you back, but I think we need to talk about your sleeping habits."

Ruva yawned, mumbling out her excuses as she rubbed her neck.

With mirth twinkling in Arra's eyes, she asked, "So, what are you trying to do?"

Ruva froze. What was she trying to _do_?

What was she achieving?

What was she trying to do in her life? Why was she getting up each day, what did she have to look forward to?

How did she help the people around her? How did she improve things?

_What was she trying to do?_

She had done nothing. Nothing but selfish acts. Nothing except the things that she wanted, never to help someone else.

She was a failure.

"Ruva?" said Arra, stopping Ruva's dark train of thought. "I just asked what you're working on, didn't you hear me?"

Ruva blinked, trying to get her thoughts under wrap. "Um," she said, reaching for the most recent sheet. "Species Distinction homework, about identifying different earthworms."

Arra's nose wrinkled. "Bleugh, I hated those lessons."

Ruva smiled in agreement, but in truth she had enjoyed the experience. Varin had taken them out to the forest to hunt for earthworms, showing them different tactics to draw the worms to the surface. It had been a very hands-on lesson, much more enjoyable than sitting in a classroom.

But the smile soon disappeared from her face. She had been selfish then, as well. Only caring for her own enjoyment and learning, not about anyone else's.

"Here," said Arra, pushing something warm into Ruva's hands. Looking down, she saw a hot chocolate. Ruva smiled, breathing in the steamy chocolate smell.

"I was going to drink that myself, but you look like you need it more," said Arra, giving Ruva a comforting squeeze. "I'm going to have a shower, unless you want one first?"

Ruva shook her head, letting Arra go ahead.

Sipping the warm chocolatey goodness, Ruva finally became aware of her surroundings.

It was dark outside, and the room was icy from where she'd left the window open – was that frost on the windowsill?

Looking closer, Ruva saw windowsill and some of the wall covered in the pale, glinting blanket. Yes, that was definitely frost.

Ruva rose from her chair, her joints cracking much more than was healthy. Stretching out her aching back, she went over and shut the window, she'd deal with the frost later.

Ruva turned back to her desk, noticing that Tua was stirring once more. She shivered in the icy air, letting out a tiny chirp.

"Cold," she was saying. "Cold. Cold. _Cold_."

Ruva rushed over, scooping up the shivering bird in her hands. Tua immediately burrowed into them, soaking up all the warmth she had to offer.

As Tua's shivering eased, Ruva began to feel worse.

It was her fault Tua became cold, wasn't it? She hadn't even thought of her bird when she was quiet, only getting frustrated when she was loud.

A wave of guilt washed over Ruva, a wave that she didn't try to fight. She had been so selfish, not thinking of Tua or how cold she would become.

She didn't try and stop the guilt.

She _deserved_ to be guilty.


	29. Chapter 29

**29**

Ruva's guilt followed her like a heavy cloud, foreboding and promising rain. It didn't leave all week, and it made her feel disjointed from everyone else.

She didn't laugh as well as she could when Fitzy set himself on fire, didn't feel enough disappointment at the homework Marmaduke had set them.

Everything was just _less_ than before, nothing was enjoyable enough.

She no longer found solace walking amongst the trees, or riding Dancer, or sitting in the rec room.

Ruva felt the need to _do_ something, something to prove she wasn't selfish.

Tua continued to grow, but she had yet to spread out her wings and try to fly. Each time she spoke, Ruva cringed, the bird's every word reminding her about its true home.

It hadn't been right for Ruva to keep Tua cooped up in her room, not when the bird was wild. And while the bird took comfort in her presence, Ruva knew that it deserved to be in the forest, not in her dorm.

But separating the bird from her would be cruel, especially with the orange ribbon connecting them. The least Ruva could do for it was take it for morning walks in the forest, rising before dawn when the academy was icy.

Returning from one such walk, Ruva made sure to stamp the ice off her boots before heading inside.

The dorms had been decorated for Kaldoras, with bunches of evergreen hung up with any flowers that could be found in the cold winter.

But the most eye-catching part of the display was the huge banner draping down from the stairs. The bright words Happy Kaldoras took centre-stage, with drawings of evergreens, holly branches and flowers decorating the border. Ruva would have smiled at the cheerful display, but for some reason it just made her feel emptier.

Besides, it would only be up for today, tomorrow everyone was going home. The holidays had crept up fast on Ruva, but she didn't feel any of the exciting anticipation that she normally would.

Tua chirped, urging Ruva into motion once more. She climbed the dorm stairs, making her way up to the highest floor. Nobody was up and about, yet, but Ruva could hear the muffled sounds of people waking up. The thump of footsteps, a muffled conversation, water running through the pipes.

Ruva felt disjointed once more, like she was operating on a different frequency to everyone else.

Trying to shake off the feeling, Ruva picked up her pace and headed towards her dorm, looking forward to a warm shower.

Heading into her dorm, Ruva saw Arra was just starting to stir, but still fully unaware of her surroundings.

Putting Tua in her makeshift nest, Ruva headed into the bathroom, turning on the shower and washing the dirt off her skin.

By the time she came out, Arra was up and about, and Ruva felt relaxed after the lengthy shower.

But as soon as she thought that, her mood dropped and her face darkened. It was so indulgent of her to take a long shower, a waste of hot water and time.

"Anything wrong, Angel?" asked Arra, who was brushing her hair.

"Nothing," said Ruva, averting her gaze. She concentrated on the materials around her, the carpet under her feet, her thermal shirt fitting her figure, and her long, damp hair that would take the rest of the day to dry out.

Arra stopped, putting the brush down. "Are you sure? You seem a bit down today."

Ruva lowered her eyes, concentrating on the carpet beneath her feet.

Arra must have recognised the look, because she immediately stood up and brought Ruva onto the bed. "I'll do your hair," she said, reaching for the hairbrush. Arra set up the music function on her TCD, humming along as she brushed Ruva's hair.

Ruva took comfort in Arra's familiar strokes, grateful that she hadn't demanded any answers or put her under pressure. Arra understood that she wasn't feeling too great, and that she didn't want to talk about it, but she was still trying to help her.

Ruva smiled with gratitude, her chest building with warmth. There was a little voice in the back of her mind telling her that she was being selfish, but she ignored it, instead basking in her friend's comfort.

They stayed there for close to an hour, just brushing hair and listening to music.

It was just what Ruva needed.

…

When Ruva's hair was well and truly brushed, light dancing across the academy, Arra got up, asking Ruva if she wanted to go down for breakfast.

Ruva nodded, feeling looser and more relaxed than she had in a while.

They both got off the bed, putting on their shoes and getting ready. As they were about to walk out the door, Tua made a low, mournful sound. The lament became a word, one Tua had never said before.

"Lonely," she said. "Lonely, Ruva. _Lonely_."

Ruva froze in the doorway, hesitating for only a second before running over to Tua, scooping her up and nuzzling her.

Arra poked her head back through the doorway, her brow crinkled. "Is everything okay?" she asked, looking concerned.

Ruva bit her lip, a twinge of guilt in her guts as she thought about Tua. "Tua said she was lonely," she said, "She seems happier now, though, but I don't want to leave her."

Tua definitely was happier now, making a soft humming noise in her delicate throat, reminding Ruva of a purring cat. Tua jumped up to Ruva's shoulder, seating herself right next to Ruva's neck. Tua didn't seem at all inclined to move, and Ruva turned helplessly to Arra.

Arra fought off a smile as she saw the predicament Ruva was in, eventually choosing to say, "I guess she can come with us for breakfast – besides, I don't think she plans on moving anytime soon," she said, losing the battle against her smile.

They walked across the hallway and down the stairs, Ruva resting her hand on her shoulder to protect Tua if need be. There wasn't much noise on the highest floor, but the lower they travelled the louder it became.

Many students were moving about, most on their way to the food court, others heading to their friend's dorms.

Tua shuffled about anxiously in all the noise, she wasn't used to being around this many people. Ruva stroked Tua's feathers, mumbling quiet assurances. The bird settled, burrowing into the collar of Ruva's shirt before relaxing.

"Did you finish all that homework you had piled up?" asked Arra, her eyes flickering to where Tua was hidden. "I've got to say, the pile on our desk was getting impressively high."

Ruva gave a half smile, and she responded in a voice quiet enough not to disturb Tua. "I don't know, I feel like I got through most of it, but I can't remember where I was at before I fell asleep."

"How _do_ you manage to sleep anywhere? It takes me hours to fall asleep in my own bed, let alone on a desk."

At that moment, they walked out of the dorm building and into the biting winter air. Goosebumps prickled along Ruva's flesh, and Tua chirped in distress as soon as the cold air hit her.

Arra's eyes crinkled in concern when she heard the noise, the impression only increasing when Ruva started stroking it, whispering comforts in its ear.

"Are you sure your bird is going to be okay in the food court? It doesn't seem too happy out here," she said, continuing to watch Ruva's movements.

"Tua will be okay," Ruva reassured. "She's just unfamiliar with large groups of people. Besides, she always chirps like that when I bring her out into the cold, but soon she enjoys herself and becomes active."

Arra nodded, but she didn't seem to believe Ruva.

However, she didn't speak of it any more, not for the rest of the walk.

When they entered the food court, the sudden rush of warm air and noise rushed over them, distressing Tua and making her cry out.

Ruva hurried to calm the terrified bird before it made a spectacle, but Arra just gave Ruva an '_I told you so'_ look.

Ignoring Arra's smug expression, Ruva focused on calming the bird down, letting Arra pick their table. It was only once Ruva sat down did she notice who else was on their table.

Leo blinked from across the table, staring at Ruva – namely, her shoulder where Tua was.

'_Is that a _bird_ on your shoulder?_' he asked, staring at the vivid blue bird.

Ruva bit her lip and nodded, keeping her eyes on the empty table in front of her.

Leo gave a breathy laugh, shaking his head. '_I wish I could say I'm surprised, but in all honesty, I'm not._' Leo stopped abruptly, but it sounded like there was more he wanted to say.

Ruva looked up curiously, watching as Leo rubbed his neck, just below his chin. He seemed really nervous, and he refused to look Ruva in the eye.

Why was he nervous?

Ruva continued to look at Leo, trying to decipher his mood.

They must have been silent for too long, because Arra coughed awkwardly before launching into a conversation about what she was doing in the Kaldoras break. She didn't leave any gaps for Leo or Ruva to jump in, but Ruva was grateful. She found it so much easier listening to others talk than talking herself, and Leo seemed the same.

Looking over to Leo, Ruva still thought he looked nervous – no, nervous was the wrong word for it. More like restrained, like he was holding himself back from something.

Ruva scrunched her eyes, trying to work out why Leo was acting strangely. Was it because it was almost Kaldoras break? Was he tired? Hungry? Sick?

No, those all seemed wrong.

What could it be?

And before Ruva knew it, the gong rang. Ruva blinked, concentrating back on the room around her and Tua on her shoulder.

She hadn't even ordered breakfast.

"Come on Ruva," said Arra, "We've all got Med Science, and I don't want to get in trouble with Luranda, especially not in our last lesson of the semester."

Ruva nodded, quickly touching the circle on the menu for an apple and some toast to take with her, but nothing appeared.

Ruva sighed, the food court closed at the start of the first lesson, and now it wouldn't be open until lunch. She got up, ignoring her protesting stomach, and hurried after Arra.

Ruva reached the food court doors, pushing them open against the icy wind. Tua let out a distressed chirp, yelling "Cold!" in Ruva's ear.

She had forgotten that Tua was on her shoulder, but there was no time to take her back to the dorm, and Ruva would hate for the bird to become lonely.

It would have to come with her, she decided, as she headed for the gen sec.

Tua was still complaining about the cold, but Ruva rubbed her feathers, smothering its protests.

"Hush now," she said to Tua as she ran her fingers down the bird from head to tail. "You need to be silent when we enter this building, and I need you to hide in my pocket where nobody will see you."

Ruva flattened her hand for Tua, and she jumped on without hesitation. However, when Ruva brought the bird towards her pocket it started to protest, flapping its wings and trying to hop up Ruva's arm. Tua didn't chirp, though, not even when Ruva gave it a forceful nudge.

While inwardly she swelled with gratitude that her bird was willing to follow her requests, she failed to convince Tua to go into her jacket pocket.

After many failed attempts, Ruva relented, falling into the shadow of the gen sec building. She was running out of time, the second gong would soon sound, signalling the start of the lesson.

Ruva placed Tua back on her shoulder, with Tua snuggling into her usual spot. There was no way the resplendent bird wouldn't be seen there, and Ruva strained her brain as she walked into the gen sec doors.

Immediately the air became more clinical, the scent of disinfectant hanging around the nondescript walls.

As Ruva reached the foot of the stairs, an idea suddenly came to her.

Scooping Tua from her usual perch, Ruva lifted her to the back of her thick plait, whispering, "Hide in my hair, Tua. Climb into the folds near the top, where nobody will see you."

Although Ruva worried that the young bird wouldn't comprehend her words, Tua obediently climbed into Ruva's golden locks, being as quiet as before. Ruva started heading up the stairs at a near jog, she had only a few minutes to get to Lab Two on the third floor before the final gong would sound, meaning Luranda would shut the door on her.

Dread began to build in Ruva's stomach as she climbed the stairs. The last thing she wanted to do was draw attention to herself, not with the unorthodox bird hidden in her hair.

Quickening her pace once she reached the third floor, Ruva hurried on towards the classroom, hearing her classmate's voices far ahead of her.

She finally reached the corridor, the bell ringing and echoing through the hall. Luranda was facing the class, reaching out to shut the door with one hand.

Ruva sprinted for the door, managing to get her foot in at the last second.

She pushed the door back open, sliding into the room whilst avoiding Luranda's gaze.

"Miss Springden, are you unclear about the rules in my class?" said Luranda, not at all happy at her pushing the door open. "Tardiness is unacceptable behaviour, you are toeing a fine line, understand?"

Ruva tried to shrink back, keep everyone's attention off of herself and her bird. At the same time she mumbled, "Yes, Professor. Sorry, Professor."

Luranda's nose flared red enough to contend with the bright colours on her lab coat, but all she said was, "You'll join me after class, Miss Springden, where we will have a further discussion over your behaviour."

Ruva nodded and scurried to her desk, keen to avoid Luranda's attention.

"Let me repeat what I said before I was interrupted," said Luranda, staring Ruva down. "Today we will be learning about burn ointments, when and where to apply them and their ingredients. Open your textbooks to page sixty-three…"

Luranda spent the first half of the lesson lecturing them about when to apply a normal wound treatment, and when to use one specialised for burns. Luranda repeated over and over that if a large blister had formed, a burn ointment was your go-to choice.

At one point during the seemingly endless lecture, Leo caught Ruva's eye. '_Is your bird back in your dorm?_' He seemed to flinch ever so slightly when he sent the message, as if he hadn't meant to say it.

Ruva gave the smallest smile, hyperaware of Tua's every move in her plait. '_No, I didn't have time. She's hiding in my hair._'

Leo smiled, flashing Ruva with his white teeth. '_Only you would manage to sneak a bird into class._'

Ruva had no idea how she was supposed to respond, so she stayed quiet, but Leo didn't seem to mind. He continued looking at her from across the classroom, and Ruva realised he was daydreaming.

A slow, languorous smile spread across his face, directed at her. Ruva's cheeks flushed red, and she tilted her head down.

"Miss Springden, I just asked you a question, I'm waiting for your answer," said Luranda, tapping her foot impatiently.

Ruva blinked, focusing back to the front of the classroom. Luranda was still waiting for her to answer, but she didn't know what the question was. "I – uh… um… I don't know," she finally said, giving up on trying to work out an answer.

Luranda's nostrils flared, but she only said, "We'll discuss this later."

Then she turned to the rest of the class, continuing her lecture.

"Burn ointment is based on a chemical called mytradon, often found in heat-resistant animals and plants. However, one of the disadvantages of this chemical is that it loses effectiveness in cold weather. In fact, if this salve is exposed to temperatures under ten degrees, it becomes useless, the mytradon changing at a cellular level, nullifying the other chemicals."

Even though the lesson was boring, Ruva did not want to get in any more trouble. She made the effort to jot down extra notes, trying to look attentive to fly under the radar. But based on Luranda's frequent frosty glares, it wasn't working.

Towards the end of the lesson, when the professor was prowling around the classroom like a silent predator, she stood over Ruva's shoulder, watching as she wrote.

Ruva's hand started to shake, and she resisted the urge to cover the Tua's hiding spot with her hand.

Finally, Luranda took a step back, looking at the other students.

Ruva breathed a sigh of relief, until she heard Luranda take in a deep breath. She cringed, preparing for the worst.

Luranda sneezed.

Twice.

Not a normal sneeze, either, but a powerful one that had her bending over, as if the sneeze pulled her down.

It was the least composed she had ever seen the professor, her surprise only increasing when she launched into a sneezing fit.

The entire class was staring at her, nobody knowing what to think.

Luranda stumbled towards the front of the class while sneezing, her nose bright red and starting to swell. When her sneezing finally eased, she took a deep breath, wheezing slightly.

"Something," she began, "Has triggered my allergies. I do not think any of you know, but I am allergic to many species of bird, particularly so ones from the Fringillidae family."

Ruva's eyes widened. _Tua_ was a Bluebell Finch, part of the Fringillidae family. Her bird was the reason Luranda had a reaction, the reason she was now wheezing slightly, even as she tried to mask it.

As if she knew what was happening, Tua started to squirm, only increasing Ruva's concern. There was no way she could ask Tua to stop, not without drawing more attention to herself. Instead, Ruva slowly raised a hand to her head, giving her bird a rub while appearing to scratch her neck.

"I never let avian creatures anywhere near my classrooms, so my reaction must be coming from another source." Luranda said, rubbing her red nose.

"Let's now switch our train of thought, thinking back to our lessons on infectious diseases. What is it called when I catch a disease – or in this case, allergen particles – yet I haven't come into contact with the disease?"

Harry raised his hand, seeming almost excited when he remembered the answer. Luranda called on him, and he said, "It's called community transmission, right?"

Luranda nodded, "That's right, in this class right now we are dealing with transmission of the virus, where we have to trace each person's individual movements to find the source of the outbreak." –The professor paused, looking around the classroom– "Has anyone come into close contact with any species of bird, especially ones of the Fringillidae family?"

Ruva's guilt started to build, Luranda had them searching for transmitter, when really the cause was Tua, who was in this very room. She was unintentionally leading the class on a wild goose chase, when she knew how to solve the problem.

Arra slowly raised her hand, seeming to hesitate at the last second.

"Yes, Miss Squeaker?" said the professor, trying to sound amiable when really she was patronising more than anything else.

"I – um – might have been near a bird today…" she said, hesitating once more. Ruva sent her a panicked look and shook her head, she'd never hear the end of it if Luranda found out she was keeping a bird in her room – _let alone_ in her class.

Arra looked to Ruva, reading the panicked look on her face. "I was over at the clinic early this morning… helping Vanic with – uh – some stuff. There were a lot of animals there and… maybe some birds?" she finished weakly, but their teacher seemed to buy it.

Luranda nodded, then said to the class, "Here we have our transmitter, the unsuspecting spreader of this virus. Now I must ask you, Miss Squeaker, did you wash your hands after you came into contact with the avian?"

Arra froze for a second before shaking her head, deciding to play into Luranda's hand.

"As you can see, students, by doing simple acts of hygiene, like regularly washing your hands, you can prevent viruses and reduce the chance of unwittingly spreading disease. It is recommended that you wash your hands after cooking, outdoor activities, using the bathroom, sneezing, coughing and other regular events.

Small changes in your lifestyle can do everything from stopping common colds and river fever to defeating sarinpox, saving hundreds – maybe even _thousands_ – of lives. If it requires so little effort from us to save someone else's life, then why shouldn't we?"

Everyone became silent, contemplating Luranda's words. Ruva couldn't help but agree with what the professor had said, but she was more nervous about Tua, who was still hiding in her hair. Her bird's patience was near its end, Ruva kept feeling her twitch and occasionally shudder as the bird longed to move around. The end of lesson couldn't come soon enough, in Ruva's opinion.

But as soon as she thought it, the gong rang, everyone in the class automatically shutting their textbooks and collecting their gear.

Ruva did the same, all too eager to leave the classroom and get away from Luranda.

As they were all leaving Luranda announced the nightly homework "Read pages sixty-four to sixty-nine and revise our learning on infectious diseases, I will be testing you on this next term."

Someone groaned – Harry, most likely – but he disappeared out of the door before Luranda could apprehend him.

But as Ruva headed towards the door, Luranda called out to her, "Miss Springden, come back here. We still need to have a talk about your punctuality."

Ruva reluctantly turned around, and she felt Tua twitch impatiently.

"Take a seat, and explain to me why you were late to my lesson."

Ruva sighed, then made a great effort of walking to the desk slowly, trying to give herself more time to come up with an excuse.

"Hurry up, Miss Springden, I have another class to teach, and – unlike you – I value punctuality."

Ruva started to move faster, despite the fact that Tua was twitching more and more. She felt truly sorry for her bird, who had been hiding in her hair for so long. Ruva sat down at the desk, letting out a silent sigh.

But as soon as Tua felt Ruva sitting down, she started to wriggle out of her niche, making Ruva's hair jolt this way and that.

"_Ruva Springden_," Luranda said, "_What_ in the_ world_ is your hair doing?"

Ruva's stomach dropped and she found herself frozen in place. Tua took advantage of her immobility, wriggling out of Ruva's hair and landing on Ruva's shoulder.

She grabbed at the bird, trying push it back out of sight, but Tua jumped into the open air, spreading her blue wings and–

Tua was flying.

_Tua_ was _flying_.

Ruva stood up, watching as her bird flew around the room.

She was beautiful. The way she dived through the air, curling around obstacles with innate grace. Her brilliant blue feathers reflecting in the classroom's halogenic lights, the tiny swoosh every time she pumped her wings.

A smile spread across Ruva's face, she shared Tua's joy in her first flight.

"RUVA SPRINGDEN!" yelled Luranda, her face red and eyes swollen. "WHY IS THERE _A BIRD_ IN YOUR HAIR?!"

The smile disappeared from Ruva's face, she lowered herself back into her chair. The joy she felt seconds earlier was gone, emptiness threatening to swallow her once more.

Luranda covered her mouth and nose with her coat, trying to stop her allergic reaction from getting worse. She took a deep breath, bringing back her composure before berating Ruva once more.

"What were you thinking? I've never seen something so atrocious in my life. You should know my rules by now, yet you – and_ all_ the other students – continue to astound me with some of the things you do. I made all the rules perfectly clear from the first lesson, yet you still manage to break them, bringing a bird – _a bird_ – into my classroom..."

Ruva stopped hearing Luranda, instead concentrating on the desk in front of her.

The smooth stone surface was cold and black, an unnaturally consistent shade, with none of the streaks and swirls of real stone. It was polished with something that was undoubtedly fireproof, with all the things Fitzy whipped up. In fact, almost everything in the classroom was fireproof, something that the academy must have learnt the hard way.

Ruva felt like that stone now, cold, hard and unmoving. There was nothing special about her, she was just a desk, same as all the others.

Tua flitted down and landed on her shoulder saying, "Fly! Fly!"

Ruva smiled slightly, other desks didn't have a Tua.

The gong rung, and Luranda stopped her rant. Rubbing her puffy eyes, she said, "You can leave now, Miss Springden, we'll continue this conversation later." but that wasn't all she said. "And as for your bird," Luranda said, opening the window, "If I hear any word of it being in another class then you'll be severely punished."

Once the window was opened, Tua didn't think, just flew straight out and into the open air without so much as a goodbye.

Ruva ran over to the window, her breathing stuttering and hands shaking. She couldn't see Tua, couldn't tell her apart from all the other birds that were flying past.

"Hurry up, Miss Springden, you were late to my class, now you're holding up my next one _and_ becoming late for your second."

Ruva grabbed her things and ran out of the classroom, not realising until she was halfway down the stairs that her next class was back on the top floor.

…

Ruva didn't remember what happened in any of her classes.

The entire time was blurred memories of staring out the window hoping to catch a glimpse of Tua, trying to avoid her teacher's wrath. Alas, she didn't see her bird once, not even in her practical lessons, Archery and Combat. She lost count of how may detentions she got, lost count of how many times Arra asked if she was okay.

No, she _wasn't_ okay, but how did she explain that without being selfish?

It would be much too selfish to tell her friends about this, to pile her concerns and stress on other people. They didn't deserve that, not at all.

And so Ruva kept moving through the day, a blur of empty windows and concerned faces.

…

At the end of the day, just after Ruva's last class, the headmaster approached her, asking for a word. Ruva nodded, dread building in her stomach, she already knew what was coming.

Following after Marselle, Ruva's dread only increased when she realised that they were going to the headmaster's office.

But the pit in her stomach increased tenfold when he opened the door, revealing Luranda, Varin, Marmaduke and a whole host of other teachers.

No, today was _not_ her day.

…

Ruva walked down the tower stairs, feeling utterly drained. The meeting had taken hours, most of which was Luranda accusing her and ranting about her ignorance. All of the teachers were against her except Varin, who understood her close relationship with the bird.

But when Marselle had asked for her perspective of the story, she couldn't speak. There was a clamp around her neck stopping the words from coming out, and there was nothing she could do about it. Even when Varin gave her prompting questions, she still couldn't bring herself to respond, even when all was needed was a shake or nod of her head.

Luranda had taken it upon herself to reprimand Ruva several times, until she was almost crying, struggling to hold the tears at bay.

Luranda just didn't understand that Ruva didn't _mean_ to make her have an allergic reaction, she was just trying to do the best for Tua.

But whatever she did, she just seemed to make things worse. Tua would be better living in the wild, but Ruva had connected that ribbon to herself denying Tua the chance of a normal life.

Of course, Ruva knew that Tua would have died without her, the sparrow would have dropped her to her death, but her brain wasn't willing to play along, her guilt building and building.

Ruva kept tilting her eyes towards the sky, hoping to see Tua, only to feel a surge of guilt when she wasn't there. Then her gaze would turn back to the ground, looking at the grass beneath her feet until she couldn't resist looking up once more. It was a vicious cycle that continued until Ruva reached the dorms, and stepped inside.

Ruva climbed up the dorm stairs, looking through every window she went past, hoping for just a glimpse of her bird.

But all she saw were grey skies, full of clouds and promising rain.

She was so exhausted when she made it back to her dorm even though she'd barely done anything. It felt like she'd ran a marathon, when all she did was go to classes for the day.

Ruva opened her dorm door, walking straight over to her bed and collapsing. She didn't have the energy to take her shoes off or put the blanket over herself, she just laid there.

Eventually, her guilt seemed to ease, replaced by a soothing lack of emotions. She just stayed as she was, thoughts flitting through her mind but not registering.

She was filled with nothingness, but nothingness was better than pain.

…

Ruva stayed on the bed for hours. She didn't move, not even when her leg went numb and her arms prickled with goosebumps. A light snow started to fall, just enough to coat everything white, the flakes drifting down the windowsill. Normally this event would calm Ruva, or energise her, but she just felt tired.

And then, when Ruva was almost asleep, she heard a tap on the window.

Ruva blinked, looking out into the cold.

It was _Tua_.

Ruva rushed and sat up, opening the window to let her inside.

The bird swooped in, gracefully riding the icy breeze and landing in her makeshift nest. "Tua home!" she said, trying to shake off the snowflakes stuck on her wings.

Ruva shut the window, rushing over to Tua's side. She held the bird close to her heart, its vibrant blue feathers somehow warmer than her hands.

"Ruva!" Tua chirped, snuggling deep into her cold hands.

Tua was _back_.

She was safe and happy, and she had returned. She hadn't forgotten about Ruva, not like what she'd been fearing.

Ruva felt a rush of warm emotions, she was suddenly overwhelmed by how much she loved Tua. Her ribbons flickered into view and Ruva watched as a new ribbon formed between them; a ribbon of love.

It was the purest white, the same colour as light glinting on freshly fallen snow. The ribbon travelled from her heart to Tua's, letting off the faintest glow.

Ruva hadn't yet said anything to Tua, and it took the finch a nudge and an impatient chirp to spur her into action.

"Why didn't you say anything before you left?" she said, bringing Tua up to her cheek. "I was all alone, I didn't know when you'd come back."

Tua ruffled her wings, jumping out of Ruva's embrace and into her makeshift nest.

"Tua lonely," said the bird, trying to defend herself. "Ruva go, but Tua stay. Tua cold, Tua lonely." The bird sounded melancholic, something Ruva had never conceived.

"I'm sorry," Ruva whispered, dropping her eyes.

She didn't know what else to say, didn't know how she could justify her behaviour. She had made a mistake, and there was no way she could undo it.

The love she felt moments earlier was gone, replaced waves of guilt washing around her body, beating in time with her heart.

There was no justification for how she'd been treating Tua, she'd been nothing but selfish.

But then when she tried to fix her mistake, by bringing Tua with her, she just caused more havoc, damaged more relationships.

More people became angry at her.

More things went wrong.

Ruva made everything wrong.


	30. Chapter 30

**Hi guys I know I don't say much but I really appreciate people's feedback, it's the reason I'm still writing every week. Please leave a review if you can.**

**30**

Ruva didn't come out of her room again, not even for dinner.

When Arra eventually came in, Ruva just rolled over on her bed, feeling too bad to even greet her.

She inwardly hoped that Arra would sense her distress and give her comfort, but she didn't, instead getting ready before hopping into her own bed, without saying a single word. The silence between them was a giant ravine, there was nothing in the world that would make it across.

Ruva felt even worse.

The night stretched on and on, Ruva was awake long after Arra had fallen asleep.

Even though she could hear her friend's steady breathing, Ruva had never felt so alone. The guilt that had been burning through her built and built, until it came rushing out in waves of tears.

Everything was going wrong, and there was nothing Ruva could do without making it worse.

And even when she had no tears left to spill, Ruva still felt terrible, her mind going over and over everything she'd done wrong.

She wanted to sleep. Wanted to disappear into that warm and safe world, where nobody expected anything from her.

But the more she grabbed at it, the more it eluded her. Ruva still felt wide awake hours later, when the world was silent and lonely.

Eventually her ribbons came into view, and Ruva felt an aching comfort at their familiarity.

Just like she had done before, Ruva let go of her restraints, swimming in a sea of memories and ribbons.

Eventually, she fell asleep.

…

Ruva woke up late the next morning, fighting against the sleep that wanted her back.

Pulling herself out of bed, Ruva was no longer swamped with guilt, something that she was grateful for.

But she didn't feel normal, either. Everything seemed… _muted_. She felt like she was viewing the world in black and white instead of colour, like everything was just a little bit _less_.

But she would take black and white any day if it meant she wouldn't feel guilty, or lonely, or upset.

"Are you up, Angel?" said Arra, "Come on, we're going home today, and I want to leave as early as we can!"

Ruva gave a small smile, grabbing her clothes and changing into them. When she came out, she realised that Arra had finished packing her bag for her, something that made her even more grateful.

She tried to express her gratitude to Arra, but Arra spent the entire time rambling, and Ruva couldn't find a chance to speak.

And soon they were going down to the food court for the final time this semester, Arra moving with a spring in her step.

Tua was flying around them, she seemed so vibrant compared to the snow around her. It was good that there were no more classes today, Ruva had no idea what she would do if there was.

Both she and Arra smiled as Tua gracefully soared, the bird always seemed so _free_, enough to lighten any mood.

They made it to the food court without incident, Tua landing on Ruva's shoulder without her having to ask.

The three of them went inside, everyone they saw in good spirits. A fortnight without classes was certainly a relief, and everyone else seemed to agree.

Except, not everyone was happy.

Ruva looked to one table to see Alex, D.C. and Bear looking to the doors, intense looks on their faces.

Like whenever she was curious, Ruva's ribbons came into view, and – wow – their ribbons were all over the place. The three of them were radiating concern, all their attention focused on a single ribbon coming from a person.

Ruva guessed that the person was Jordan, the only one missing from their group, but their reaction was unusual and threaded with too much anxiety to be normal.

But there was no more Ruva could work out from a distance, and Arra was already pulling her forward. She hadn't noticed their worried faces, she was filled with energy and couldn't wait to get home.

They sat down at a table with Harry and Leo, Arra ordering a cake for her breakfast.

"Arra, you _cannot_ have cake for breakfast!" said Harry, looking up from his bowl of cereal.

"Yes. I can," she replied, "I'm going home after a semester of work, I deserve to treat myself."

Harry put down his spoon, looking Arra in the eye. "You literally live in a café, would it kill you to wait until then?"

Ruva tried to hide her smile, and she could see Leo doing the same.

"Seriously," said Harry. "You just can't have cake for breakfast, it's like eating pizza with a knife and fork."

They were all silent for a moment, before as one they started laughing. Who knew Harry had such food standards?

Arra broke her slice of cake in half, offering some to Harry. "I guess that means you can't have this piece?" she said, waggling her eyebrow.

Harry didn't miss a beat. "You see, it's completely different if the cake is a gift, then it's definitely allowed." He grabbed the cake from Arra's hand and ate it, smacking his lips loudly. "Mm, nothing like a cake to start the holidays."

Arra rolled her eyes, making Ruva laugh. She then handed out some cake to both her and Leo, and they sat around the table eating cake for breakfast.

Looking at her friends, Ruva suddenly realised how at-home she felt. Despite the ordinary nature of the conversation, everything seemed _right_. Everyone interacted in perfect harmony, radiating positive energy.

She wanted to remember this moment for the rest of her life.

So Ruva leaned back, relaxing as she tucked into her cake – which was just as good as it looked.

…

Half an hour later, when the four of them had consumed much more cake than was healthy, they were all ready to go.

They all stood up, Harry mumbling "I'm not forgetting my backpack this time."

A smile quirked on Ruva's lips, the guilt and emptiness she felt the night before a distant memory.

Arra laughed, pulling out her bubbler, smashing it to the ground. "See you all next term!" she said, stepping into the colourful mass.

Everyone else started pulling out their own bubblers, Harry the next to leave. He smashed his bubbler to the ground, carefully checking that he had his backpack before stepping through.

Now it was just Leo and Ruva, both of them wearing small smiles and flushed cheeks.

Tua rustled on Ruva's neck, and Ruva tilted her head onto the vibrant finch, clutching her backpack and shouldering it on.

Leo smiled, giving a small wave. He stepped through the bubbledoor, and then he was gone.

Should she had said something? Maybe 'have a good holiday' or 'see you next semester'? Not even 'goodbye'?

But there was no way she could take back that moment, Leo was already gone.

Ruva took in a deep breath, taking a final moment to observe the near-empty food court. The only students there were the ones who arrived late, and Ruva could see them eating a hurried breakfast.

Alex, Bear and D.C. were still there, still waiting for their friend to arrive. Ruva could almost feel their tension, it seemed to radiate from them. She sighed, smashing her own bubbler to the ground. She hoped that whatever was making them stressed, it would soon resolve.

Ruva gave Tua a stroke, pushing her closer to the crease in her neck.

"Hold tight," she whispered, "We're about to go home."

She stepped through the bubbledoor, colours whizzing past her too quick to recognise. Tua shrieked in Ruva's ear, but she just smiled, Tua found it just as exciting as her.

They came out the other end of the bubbledoor, Ruva smiling at the familiar palace receiving room, guards placed on either sides of the main doors.

She turned around, seeing Sela and Corbin waiting with open arms. Ruva ran towards them, a vibrant smile spreading across her face.

But before she could reach them, Tua fell from her perch, thumping onto the cold, marble floor.

"Tua!" cried Ruva, dropping her things and scooping up the limp bird. Tia shivered slightly, making a faint wheezing noise when she breathed.

Ruva's hands were shaking, and she slowly brought Tua to her face. "Tua…" she whispered, tears threatening to fall. "What can I do?"

What was wrong with Tua? Did the bubbledoor do something to her? Was she going to be _okay_?

Ruva felt something warm touch her shoulder, and she realised it was Sela's hand.

"Bring her to the infirmary," she said, squeezing her shoulder. "We'll take care of her."

Ruva nodded through her tears. Yes, she needed to help, move, _anything_ was better than staying there.

She cradled her limp bird as she stood, moving as quickly as she dared, anything to help Tua.

She _would _help her… Ruva couldn't bear to think what would happen if she didn't.

…

Ruva looked down at Tua's prone form, guilt washing through her once more.

Morning sunshine glinted through the infirmary windows, but Ruva didn't notice. All she could think about was Tua, she _needed_ her bird to be okay.

Sela had done everything she could, it was up to Tua if she recovered.

What was she thinking, bringing Tua through the bubbledoor? She should _never_ had–

"It wasn't your fault, Sweetie," she said, wrapping her arms around Ruva. "You couldn't have known she'd react so drastically to bubbledoors."

Ruva stepped into an embrace with Sela, realising just how much she missed her.

She was just as Ruva remembered, smelling of rose perfume with a hint of disinfectant, the way she always smelt after coming home from the infirmary.

Although, she wasn't _exactly_ how Ruva remembered. Her belly seemed bigger than before, almost swollen.

Ruva gasped as the realisation hit her, and she looked expectantly to Sela.

Sela smiled, an expression filled with so much joy it made Ruva feel wobbly. "I'm pregnant," she said, her smile somehow growing even bigger. "You're going to be a big sister."

Ruva froze, unable to form a reaction.

_Did she just say…_

"I – I'm two months away, and I know we didn't tell you, but Corbin and I were just so unsure we would make it this far. We – we've lost children before, and we just didn't know–"

Ruva cut off Sela's rambling with another hug, holding it for even longer than before.

_She was going to be a big sister_

The realisation left Ruva in awe, scenarios started running through her mind.

She would look after the child when Sela and Corbin were at work, take them on walks through the forest, teach them to ride, and showing them how to climb trees. They would love spending time with her, and she would ride bareback with them, showing them all the tricks she could do and–

The opportunities were _endless_.

When Ruva and Sela finally pulled apart, apart, Ruva's ribbons came into view as they often did. Ruva was amazed to see that Sela's stomach pulsed with ribbons, a kaleidoscopic ball of colours that Ruva realised was her child.

The ribbons were nothing more than bands of colour surrounding the child, but Ruva suspected that would change when the child was born.

Smiling at the incredible sight, Ruva pushed her ribbons out of the way so she could concentrate once more.

Sela noticed her expression, giving her shoulders a squeeze. "Feeling better now?" she asked.

Ruva nodded, she hadn't felt better in days.

And then, she heard a flutter of wings; Tua was starting to wake.

Ruva's hand lifted to the sleepy bird, and she ran her warm fingers across Tua, gently waking her up. Tua's eyes opened, and she rubbed her head into Ruva's hand, reminding Ruva of a cat.

"Are you okay now, Tua?" she asked, caressing her fingers across Tua's feathers.

Tua rose up, stretching out her wings, creating a gentle breeze. "Healthy now," she said, jumping onto Ruva's wrist.

Ruva broke into a grateful smile, and she lifted up Tua to her usual perch. Then she turned, realising that Sela was looking at her expectantly. "Tua says she is healthy again, and I want to show her my room."

Sela stood up, placing her hand on Ruva's shoulder. "Sounds like a plan."

…

Ruva was lying on her bed, watching Tua fly around the room.

She felt truly relaxed for the first time in weeks, there were no classes to attend, no weekly schedule, no expectations, _nothing_. Ruva could do whatever she wanted, whatever made her feel good.

Making up her mind, Ruva said, "Come on, Tua, let's go for a ride."

Tua chirped her enthusiasm and they set off for the stable.

Ruva brought Admiral out of his stall, his chestnut coat glinting in the morning sunshine. "Come on, Admiral," she said. "I've been gone since summer and I want to show Tua everything."

Admiral huffed, the hot air steaming in the cold climate. "Fine, I could do with some exercise, I haven't been taken out for _three _days now," he said, throwing a pretentious look to Ruva.

Ruva smiled and mounted in one swift motion, relishing in the feel of a horse beneath her. She could feel his sides expand and contract as he breathed, the steady pulse under his warm coat.

Ruva threaded her fingers through his mane, her heart pounding in anticipation. Tua landed on her shoulder, gripping just as tight as she was.

She took a deep breath in, the cold air giving her goosebumps.

She squeezed Admiral's sides, and he broke into a gallop.

Cold air rushed around them, stabbing tiny daggers on whatever skin they could find. But Ruva whooped for joy, absorbing everything that had changed since the summer holidays.

Admiral's hooves beat in time with Ruva's heart, her hands numb as they gripped his mane. Tua clung onto Ruva's neck, until she was swept away by the wind, soaring high above. Ruva laughed, her plait whipping in the wind.

And then, her ribbons came into view, making the entire experience more vivid.

She could _see_ the life thriving around her. Ribbons were constantly moving, interacting with each other and their environment. The ribbons weaved a web so exquisite that Ruva was absorbed by it. She was surrounded by thousands of lives, from the tiny insects to humans nearby. As they passed by, Ruva absorbed fragments of memory from every ribbon.

The smell of a spring morning, the sound of a sleeping cat, the taste of fresh berries, the feeling of bark under her hands. A seaside breeze, a bird's first chirp.

Every moment made Ruva feel so _peaceful_, how things that seemed so ordinary could become beautiful.

Ruva eventually pulled out of her ribbons, focusing on her surroundings.

Admiral had brought her to a clearing, and now was drinking from an icy stream. Birds had gathered around Ruva, and Tua gleaned off her attention and put herself in the spotlight.

Ruva smiled as she dismounted, stretching her stiff and icy legs. Admiral didn't say anything, just huffed – not that Ruva expected anything, she had grown used to his pretentious moods.

Ruva walked around the peaceful clearing, eventually choosing a tree to climb.

The branches were cold as ice, damp from rain and dew. As always, birds gathered around her, and Ruva took comfort in their presence, the way they always trusted her.

Ruva took in a deep breath, rejoicing in the familiar green and wet smell. She felt amazing, calm for the first time in weeks.

Eventually, when her hands grew numb, Ruva decided to climb down.

"Come on, Tua," she said in a quiet tone. "It's time to go home, the sun will set soon."

Tua flew towards Ruva, but stopped on a branch instead of going to her usual spot. "I don't want to go home, Ruva," said Tua.

Ruva's brow crinkled, surprised at Tua's fluency. This time she had spent with other birds must have been good for her.

"What do you mean you don't want to go home? Do you want to be back at Akarnae?" she said, her head tilting.

Tua seemed to take a deep breath before she spoke. "I want to live out in this forest, not with you. You keep me trapped inside, only taking me out once a day. Inside I'm lonely, I can't even feel the wind. And then you hurt me, taking me through the Rainbowshinything."

Ruva stopped.

Tua was _right_.

She had done nothing good for her, only held her back from freedom, neglecting her duties to Tua. She had been a terrible person, caring only about herself and her own life. She hardly thought of Tua when she was out of her room, being selfish. Selfish selfish selfish selfish.

"You're right," Ruva said, her breath catching. "I haven't been caring for you, not like I should. I should have given you more freedom, should have made sure you were never lonely." Ruva stopped again, the tightness in her chest making her choke. Her eyes were filled with tears, and she knew that they wouldn't last long before they fell.

"I want to try again, Tua, I'll always leave the window open for you, take you with me wherever I go. I'll ask the birds to come visit you and–"

"Stop," she said. "I know you want the best for me but…" Tua paused, looked guiltily at Ruva. "I think it's best that I leave."

At that moment, Ruva saw the orange ribbon, the ribbon of admiration, between her and Tua. As the silence between them grows longer, the ribbon grows tighter, until it was like a rigid band between them.

Ruva blinked, making the tears in her eyes fall. She managed one word, only in a whisper.

"Okay."

The ribbon snapped.

Ruva felt it like a physical pain, as she watched the ends of the ribbon drift apart. She could reach out and grab it, if she really wanted to, maybe even join the ribbon back together.

Her hand lifted on its own accord, shaking not just from the cold. She held it there, having no clue what to do next.

But, now she had no choice, as she watched the ends of the ribbon change colour. Now they were grey, a colour Ruva had never seen in her own ribbons.

She couldn't move. She could barely see through all the tears in her eyes.

"Goodbye, Ruva," said Tua, stretching out her wings.

Tua Human Named flew off into the sky, her vibrant blue wings reflecting the light.

But Ruva didn't have wings, she was trapped on the ground.


	31. Chapter 31

**31**

Ruva was in her bed, burying herself in the blankets even though it was still light outside.

It was just so warm and dark and safe, making Ruva feel less empty.

That's all she felt. Empty.

Tua had only been gone for only a few hours, but they had been the longest hours of Ruva's life. All that happiness and excitement was gone but it hadn't been replaced by anything.

She didn't feel anything at all.

Although… empty was better than sadness, better than regret.

Wasn't it?

Besides, she had no reason to get up. There were no classes, no expectations, nothing that she was obliged to do.

"Ruva?" called Sela. "Come have some dinner, I've made some pasta, and I think this batch turned out perfectly."

Ruva, pushed off the blanket, slowly sitting up.

It always felt strange, getting out of bed when she hadn't slept. Waves of heat rushed around her body, but the outside air was cold. It left her more exhausted than she had started, the difference in temperature off-putting.

Ruva walked across the room, each step more draining than the last. She had almost made it to the door when she froze, her eyes locking on to the seemingly innocent item.

It was a blue feather – one of Tua's feathers, to be exact.

It was most likely from her wings, judging by the colours in it. The tip was sky blue, or perhaps just a bit lighter. It darkened over the span over the ribbon, eventually becoming a much deeper and vivid blue, the kind of blue that Harry would often wear.

The feather was a sturdy one, too, with the individual strands holding their shape well. Most of the feathers Tua shed were little more that fluff, only rarely had Ruva found such a whole feather.

But Ruva wasn't going to find any more feathers, not with Tua gone.

She wasn't ever coming back, not with how Ruva mistreated her.

And then, all the emotions she hadn't been feeling came rushing back, overwhelming Ruva. She felt so guilty and upset.

Ruva deserved to be guilty, but not upset, no. Being upset was just selfish, only caring for herself.

She was a horrible – _horrible _– person, and nothing–

"Ruva?" Sela asked, opening the door, "Are you coming? I don't want our pasta getting cold."

Ruva smiled, then followed Sela to the table.

Sitting down, Ruva started eating her pancake, disappointed when she could hardly taste it. It just seemed so _dull_, and she started wishing for the cake she'd had that morning or one of Arra's hot chocolates.

Well, maybe it wasn't the food she was longing for, but how she'd felt when she ate them.

Things had been so different that morning, everything was more colourful and bright.

But now the world was stuck in shades of grey, and Ruva didn't know how to change it back.

Sela squeezed her shoulders, saying, "Are you okay, Ruva? You look a bit tired, Sweetie."

Ruva just nodded, avoiding explanation.

"Where's that pretty bird of yours, Tua isn't it?"

That was too much.

Way, way, way too much.

Tears started falling down Ruva's face, she couldn't move – _she couldn't move_.

"Oh, what's wrong, Ruva?" said Sela, moving in to hug Ruva.

Ruva didn't move, but tears kept falling down her face.

"Are you still worried about Tua, Sweetie?"

Ruva took in a choking gasps, realising she hadn't breathed in far too long.

"There's no need to worry, although your bird didn't react well to going through the bubbledoor, there's no need to worry. Tua is a strong bird, she will recover and move forward, forget it even happened."

_No_, this was too much_._

_Too much too much too much too much too much too much_

_And before she _realised, Ruva was running.

She was gasping for air, the blood pumping through her veins. This was none of the well-paced running she had done in Epsilon PE, this was a hectic impulse-driven run, the kind Ruva couldn't stop.

Her feet beat in time with the words echoing in her head, a silent anthem that she couldn't avoid.

_Too much too much too much too much too much too much_

Eventually she tripped, falling on her face and grazing her hands and knees.

She laid on the ground for a while, not opening her eyes until the throbbing in her hands was too big to ignore.

Looking around, Ruva realised she was in a clearing.

_The_ clearing.

Her stomach dropped, and Ruva thought she was going to be sick.

She had been up in that tree this afternoon, Tua had perched on that branch when she abandoned her. Even with the late light framing it differently, it was still the same place, the same trees, the same chill to the air.

Ruva started to feel dizzy, and she didn't realise why until she took a deep gasp of air.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts she had forgotten to breathe, that was a symptom of something, wasn't it?

Ruva strained her brain, wishing she'd paid more attention in her theoretical lessons. While she could easily remember how to bandage a broken limb and tell apart an electrical burn to a normal one, she couldn't remember any of the less obvious ones, where there was no obvious cause of the pain.

Shock. It's called shock, isn't it?

No, shock is where you're – well, _shocked_ – after having received an injury, where your blood pressure lowers and you become at risk to fainting. She didn't have an injury – not a major one, anyway. Her grazed knees and hands hardly counted, they were just superficial wounds, ones that would be gone in an instant as soon as she applied a painkiller.

Was that enough to warrant herself shock?

Well, that was probably why her hands were shaking, her skin becoming a pale white.

Yes, she was in shock over Tua leaving her, that was the only reason she was upset.

At least, that's what Ruva told herself as she sat up.

She would be better in a few days, all she needed was some peace and rest. Yes, she would be fully recovered in time for Kaldoras, being able to fully appreciate the holiday.

It wasn't selfish giving yourself time to recover from an injury, it just meant she could achieve more when she finished resting.

Ruva pushed herself up, ignoring the stinging in her legs.

The first thing she'd need to start getting better was find some pain relief. As for her emotional pain, the best thing was probably to tell someone, even if the very thought felt scary.

Ruva took in a deep breath, starting to move forwards.

She wouldn't worry about that now, the most important thing was to get herself healed physically.

Ruva started walking back, her gait much slower than usual as to not agitate her leg. It was only grazed, but that never meant that it didn't hurt.

The first thing she was going to do when she got back was tell Sela how she was feeling, both mentally and physically, so that she could recover as quickly as possible.

Well, that's what she _planned_ on doing.

But, making her way back through the forest was tenfold slower than how she'd arrived. It gave her plenty of time to doubt herself. Her emotions weren't important, they would just become a burden on others.

_No_, she shouldn't be thinking like that. She had feelings for a reason, she could use them to admire and love and help people. Ruva needed to get back home, before she doubted herself too much.

She _could_ run with her knee if she really needed to, but the simple act of walking was painful enough. Even so, Ruva increased her pace, ignoring the worsening throb in her injuries.

_I will tell Sela how I feel. I will tell Sela how I feel. I will tell Sela how I feel._

She repeated the mantra over and over, not letting doubt creep into her mind. Because as soon as she fed it, it would grow bigger and bigger until all she wanted to do was hide in her bed.

But then she would be a waste of space, someone who never achieved anything, trapped by her own doubts. She would help nobody, and she would only be an annoyance to everyone around her.

She already _was_ an annoyance.

Tua thought so. Her friends thought so. And maybe Sela and Corbin thought so, too.

Besides, she had barely been here the past year. She had been at Akarnae for a year-and-a-half, and she had barely thought about her adoptive parents for that time. She called them far less often than she should have, she'd cared far too much about her own life.

And then she'd come crashing in this morning, caring more about her bird – who they'd never even _seen_ – than Corbin and Sela.

The world wasn't all about _her_, and she'd been treating it that way for far too long.

Ruva stopped, realising the palace was in front of her. The throbbing in her knees was worse than before, and she had forgotten all about her mantra.

So much for warding off doubt.

Ruva started mentally chanting again, putting all her will into the words.

_I will tell Sela how I feel. I will tell Sela how I feel. I will tell Sela how I feel._

Eugh, that seemed like such an awful prospect now.

Did Sela really deserve the pile of Ruva's burdens?

No. No she didn't.

So why was she doing this?

"Stop it," Ruva whispered as she made her way through the palace halls, towards their apartment. "I'm going to tell her how I feel. Nothing is going to change that."

Ruva pushed open the door with much more force than necessary, trying to clear her muddled thoughts.

The first thing she noticed was Sela, sitting straight-backed on a chair and a crinkled brow. As soon as she noticed Ruva, her frown lines disappeared as she flew towards Ruva.

Enveloped in another warm hug, Ruva had lost count of how may she'd had today. Ruva gulped as she realised she'd been monitoring how many hugs she received today, unconscious or not.

It was pretty selfish to measure their love like that, compare it to other things.

Ruva pulled herself back, and before Sela could say anything, she was going to tell her how she felt.

"I will tell you how I feel," she said, blurting the words out before she could change her mind.

Maybe it wasn't the most elegant start, but it was certainly something.

Sela grabbed Ruva's hands, guiding her over to the small couch.

"I'll listen to whatever you have to say."

…

An hour later, Ruva was on her bed once more, emotionally spent after the long talk with Sela.

It was mostly her who had done the talking, though, something that Ruva had rarely done before. But Sela had been happy to listen, nodding and encouraging Ruva forwards.

Ruva had started with the reason she ran off, knowing she owed Sela an explanation. And then she'd expanded, speaking about how Tua had abandoned her, her teachers lashing out and Leo becoming more distant.

She ended up crying a few times, and Sela always held her until she felt better.

But now, after saying everything on her mind, Ruva was exhausted. But it wasn't the kind of exhausted she felt after using her gift too long, or staying up too late. No, this was the exhaustion you feel after running a marathon, when everything hurts too much to move, but your thoughts are still racing.

Sela had understood that Ruva needed some time alone, so after she had treated her grazes, she let Ruva retreat to her room.

At first it had been relaxing, being by herself, but now it just felt tedious. Her thoughts were starting to loop, going over everything she just shared more times than she could count.

And – besides from exhaustion – Ruva didn't feel anything. The numbness that had been following her these last couple days had returned, and this time Ruva didn't have the energy to fight it off.

But numbness wasn't bad, it was kind of relaxing compared to everything else that had happened today.

At least, that's how she felt in the beginning.

But the longer and longer she stayed in her room, the worst the numbness felt.

She couldn't feel _anything_.

Ruva couldn't bring herself to move from the bed, not when there was no purpose. She had no classes to attend, no weekly schedule, no expectations, _nothing_.

The prospect had seemed so exciting.

But reality hardly lives up to expectations.

The numbness hurt, hurt in a way she'd never felt before.

Tears sliced down her face, but not happy tears, or the ones that heal grief.

Empty tears.

All her emotion spilling down her face, leaving nothing inside for her to feel. Tears that cut across her face like a dagger, harming her below the surface.

This shock – or whatever it was – that she was experiencing, it had better end soon. It was too _hard_ to feel like this, she didn't have the willpower to fight her emotions when there was nothing _to_ fight.

She needed to get better.

And she needed to do it soon.


	32. Chapter 32

**32**

Days passed, some of them easier than others.

On the good days, Ruva had the energy to do things. She could flip through her photo album, go for a walk, enjoy a meal.

And even though those things still felt a little _less_, Ruva made it through them.

The bad days, however, were a different story. Her every action was judged by the harshest critic, herself.

When she didn't want to get out of bed she was lazy, when she didn't enjoy helping Sela she was selfish. When she didn't put her plate on the sink she was a failure, when she struggled to come when Corbin told her she was disrespectful.

She just couldn't _win_.

Corbin and Sela were both understanding, they knew that she was going through a rough patch, and they did anything they could to make her feel better. A warm meal, cleaning her room, brushing her hair, opening the window. Whatever it was, they always tried to help her.

But now it was Kaldoras Eve, and one question kept going through Ruva's mind.

Why wasn't she getting better?

She was still just as bad as when she first talked to Sela. Still lacking motivation, still overthinking, still feeling numb.

It had been a week and she was still the same as before, showing the same symptoms, the same emotions, nothing to say she was healing.

She _should_ be healing, she _should_ have recovered by now.

_Why wasn't she getting better_?

She was becoming a burden on Sela and Corbin, as much as she knew they'd deny the statement. They had been caring for her day after day, but she hadn't made any progress, was still a mess that couldn't be untangled. She was just _lying_ there, every single day, not contributing anything.

And then, in the worst moments, she started to wonder if things would be better if she wasn't there.

If she took herself out of the equation, would it be more helpful than just lying in bed?

_No_.

So far, Ruva made herself answer no, didn't allow herself to consider the option, not when she still had good days. But in her darkest moments, that question still surfaced, and it was taking more and more of her willpower to continuously push it back down.

Ruva sighed, taking a deep breath of stuffy air.

She needed a distraction, something to keep her away from her thoughts.

Ruva summoned her ribbons, the colourful strands dancing around the room.

She gave the smallest sigh at the view, all that her ribbons could do.

She reached out and grabbed the severed ribbon between her and Tua, looking closer at the different colours. The ribbon was mostly orange, but its tip faded into a pale grey, a colour Ruva was still unsure about.

It could be regret, or maybe disappointment – maybe even negligence.

But while Ruva would normally stress over it, trying to figure out the answer in every waking moment, she couldn't find the energy to do so.

Instead she did what had become a frequent habit, letting go of her control and letting her ribbons surround her. She absorbed whichever ribbon reached her first, swimming in a sea of her memories.

Ruva always felt a weight lift off her shoulders as she viewed the memories, whether it was at Akarnae, or home, and everywhere in between.

Although, Ruva never gave her ribbons full liberation. She kept tight limits on all of her negative ribbons. Her fear of water, her parent's death, along with the one ribbon she was still too scared to touch.

The ribbon between her and Leo.

It just seemed so daunting and uncontrollable, she couldn't stop Leo falling in love with her, and… it was terrifying to imagine him seeing her now.

Lying on her messy bed in a messy room, with a layer of dust over the things she liked.

He would never want to see her again.

Ruva's stomach dropped at the thought, she couldn't bare it if _any_ of her friends chose to abandon her.

_Especially Leo_

The realisation made Ruva freeze. Maybe she _did_ want Leo to stay, even if she tried to deny it.

And maybe… maybe Ruva missed him.

Maybe she missed having someone like her, someone quiet and willing to listen. Even if she had nothing to say, Leo made her relax and feel warm inside, something that very few people could do.

It was so much easier back then, and everything was better.

But she was trapped in the present, no way to go back and no way to go forward. She was still stuck on her bed, being useless, still not getting better.

_Why wasn't she getting better?_

Her thoughts were trapped in that cycle.

Over and over, they'd come back to that one question.

A question she still couldn't answer.

Ruva's TCD buzzed, and she blinked her ribbons away.

Leo had sent a message.

Ruva opened it up, realising it was a holo-message.

That's odd, Leo rarely sent holo-messages, mainly because that he couldn't speak into his Device, and he couldn't exactly use his gift on it, either.

Ruva pressed the message, the hologram lighting up her dark and stuffy room.

Matt and Lisa, the twins who were around six years old, were running through the house, squealing with delight.

Ruva smiled at their antics, watching as they clasped hands and ran towards the wall.

Then _through_ the wall.

_Did they just do that or was it my imagination?_

Ruva blinked, rewinding the message to confirm what she saw.

She watched the message reroll, and, sure enough, the twins ran through a wall, as if there was nothing there.

Ruva watched as the footage continued to play out, hearing laughter and chatter in the background.

Suddenly, the hologram lurched around, and Ruva saw that Libby, Leo's ten-year-old sister, was now holding the camera.

"What are you filming, Leo?" she asked, pulling a face at the camera.

Ruva could almost see how Leo would react, even though he was out of the shot.

Sure enough, the camera wobbled again, Libby almost dropping it on the ground. She didn't give up, poking her tongue at Leo before facing back to the camera.

"Hi, I'm Libby, Leo's super awesome younger sister. I dunno who Leo's filming this for, but something super cool happened this morning; Lisa awoke her gift!"

Ruva smiled at the recording, surprised at how confident Libby seemed. The last time she'd seen her, Libby had been much quieter, taking a while to warm up to Ruva. Her hair was longer, too, almost down to her elbows. She had changed so much since the summer, more aware of the world around her.

"She can run straight through anything, and somehow he's making Matt do it, too. It's pretty awesome, but the only bad thing is that we can't catch them As soon as Mum asks them to do something they just run away, I don't know how we'll get them to stop!"

There was another clunk from behind the camera, and Ruva saw a flash of Leo's face before the video ended.

Wow, Leo must be having a great time.

He must be enjoying himself so much, looking after his little brother and teaching him about his gift. He wouldn't have even thought of Ruva over the holidays, he hadn't invited her over _once_.

And Arra didn't care about her, either, not while she was on her holiday.

She kept sending Ruva pictures of everywhere she'd been, but these didn't help with anything.

While Arra was taking a canoe ride in Karonia or climbing a mountain in the Durungan ranges, Ruva was still in her room, still at the palace.

She hadn't done _anything_, which made her start to wonder why Arra was friends with her. How could she be doing such interesting and amazing stuff and be friends with _her_, when some days she struggled to get out of bed?

If Arra saw her now, she definitely wouldn't want to be friends with her, she'd just pack up and leave, ask Marselle to get her a new room.

She was out there having the time of her life, while Ruva was still stuck in her room, finding no reason to get out of bed.

There was a knock on the door, Sela stepping into the room.

Instead of wearing her normal doctor's coat, Sela was wearing a warm coat and her hair was down. Ruva rarely saw her in casual clothes, but she looked pretty.

"Ruva?" she asked, walking into the room. "You seem pretty comfortable there, but I was wondering if you wanted to come shopping with me, maybe get out of the house for a while?"

Ah, this question again.

Each day, Sela had asked if she wanted to go for a walk, or wanted to help her in the Infirmary, wanted to go for a ride.

There was always _something_ Sela had planned, some opportunity to get out of her room.

But she didn't _want_ to do _anything_.

None of those things made her feel good, not like they did before. Ruva _tried_ doing things, but they weren't enjoyable, just a way to waste time and space and money that would otherwise go to someone more important.

She turned down Sela's offering.

…

The only thing that kept Ruva from going over the line was her ribbons.

She only ever watched ribbons from _before_, when everything was happier and easier and better.

She made it so that any of her memories that had fallen into the _after_ category would never be seen, she locked them away and out of sight.

It made things easier, only focusing on the positives.

…Or so she told herself.

Every chance she got, she'd use her ribbons as a way to distract herself. She had watched the memories in nearly all of her ribbons, and had created a special filter that kept away the ribbons she didn't want to accidentally stumble upon.

She knew that it exhausted her, using her ribbons so often and holding up the filter, but sleep was such a welcome relief. Sometimes she'd fall asleep at night, exhausted, only waking up when it was almost lunchtime.

And even though she still felt exhausted when she woke, her sleep made time pass tenfold quicker.

Besides, she would be fine. All she had to do was make it to Kaldoras and she would be better.

…

Ruva woke up on Kaldoras morning, light scattered across the room from the frost on the window.

She felt the same as she had every day she woke up.

Tired. Empty. _Less_.

She hadn't gotten better in time for Kaldoras, not like she'd hoped.

Ruva looked around the room, noticing that instead of photos, each Kaldoras vase had been replaced with a tiny slip of paper.

She forced herself to get up, determined to be normal today. She hadn't gotten better, but Corbin and Sela didn't need to know that. Today she would be who they deserved, someone energetic and grateful and positive.

So Ruva stood up, moving to the nearest piece of paper.

She turned it over and saw Corbin's precise handwriting.

_Nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it_

An inspirational quote.

That was… not what she was expecting.

But… it made perfect sense if she thought about it.

Both Sela and Corbin had noticed her lack of motivation and it was only logical for them to find some means to inspire her. This must've seemed the easiest solution.

Ruva walked around the room, picking up each sheet of paper. She only gave the words a quick glance, none of them resounding with her.

Whilst she understood the sentiment, Ruva just didn't respond with what the paper said. They all had such vague meanings, such as _follow your dreams_ and _life is what you make of it_. They were generic messages that could apply to everyone, making them too unspecific to mean everything.

Ruva didn't know what her dreams were, what plan she had for the future. All she wanted to do was to get better, become more deserving of everything that had been given to her.

What did she make of life?

How was she supposed to answer that question? Did it want her to say good, or that she was angry at what she'd been given. Did it want her to say that some days she didn't care about life? That she wondered what would happen if she wasn't there?

Ruva took in a deep, shaky breath, trying to clear her thoughts.

She shouldn't be thinking that way, it wasn't right.

Those thoughts should be buried deep down, today was Kaldoras, and she was going to be happy, it was the least her parents deserved.

So Ruva continued to pick up the scraps of paper, ignoring everything in her head and focusing on putting a smile on her face.

After checking in her tabletop mirror that it seemed real enough, Ruva opened her door and stepped out into the living area.

Corbin was in the kitchen cooking pancakes, while Sela was setting the table, bringing out the special crockery and a vase of tall geraniums.

They both smiled when they saw Ruva, and she didn't hesitate to rush forward and hug them both.

Sela gave a surprised laugh, but Corbin didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around Ruva, the smile on his face worth her acting.

"Happy Kaldoras," she whispered, both of them squeezing her tight before letting go.

Sela pulled out her chair and sat down, Ruva following suit.

"Here's your present, Ruva," said Sela, bringing out a well-wrapped gift with a yellow ribbon.

Ruva made sure to plaster a big grin on her face, reaching for the present and ripping off the pink wrapping paper.

It was a backpack.

No, it wasn't quite a backpack, maybe a rucksack?

Anyway, the not-backpack was made of a durable, brown material, which was probably waterproof and maybe even fireproof. Looking closer, Ruva saw lacing running along the side of the backpack, creating delicate swirls and patterns.

Even though the backpack seemed mostly functional, the swirls gave it character, and Ruva liked it straight away.

"So, what do you think?" said Corbin, who had stopped cooking without Ruva's notice.

Ruva smiled – she wasn't sure if it was real or fake – and said, "I love it. Thank you so much. It's… it's amazing."

The look on Sela's face made it worth the lie she told.

"I'm so happy that you like it," said Sela, clasping her hands. "As soon as I saw it I just knew I had to get it, it just seemed like the perfect thing for you."

"You can use it for when you go for rides, and pack food so you can spend longer outdoors," said Corbin, seeming excited at the very idea.

Ruva, however, was inwardly cringing. Maybe she was imagining it, but she wouldn't be surprised if this was just another ploy to get her out of her room and doing something.

"When I was your age, I lived out on a farm near Dupressa, and our Mum used to pack us a day's worth of food and send us out on our horses, letting us go wherever we pleased. Oh, it felt amazing to have so much freedom, we even learnt how to–"

"Aren't you supposed to be cooking our breakfast?" interrupted Sela with a smile. "While I'd love to hear the story later, Ruva and I are getting hungry."

Corbin laughed and went back to the kitchen, and soon the room was filled with the aroma of pancakes.

Ruva began to relax. It wasn't so hard to pretend to be happy, and her adoptive parents were believing the act. She could pull this off for the rest of the day _easily_, give Corbin and Sela the Kaldoras they deserved.

…

That night in bed, Ruva's head hurt from everything she'd had to do that day.

She had severely underestimated how much energy it took to act normal, to smile every moment even when she wasn't happy.

She was _exhausted_.

And nothing had even _happened_.

They'd just spent the day inside, first just talking and eating Kaldoras sweets, before dancing to music and eating a lovely creamy pudding for lunch. After lunch was just the same.

The day was very uneventful, but now Ruva had a headache just from being normal.

How did she ever do _anything_?

When did normal become so hard? She used to be able to sit and listen for hours, feeling relaxed, even re-energised.

But now? Words. Were. Just. Pain.

Somehow she'd managed to keep her façade up the entire day, Sela and Corbin seemed delighted at her newfound enthusiasm. Sometimes her smile felt more like a cringe, but they didn't notice – or chose not to notice.

But now she was in bed, she could finally relax and go to sleep.

Well, that's what she _tried_ to do.

But hours later, she was still awake.

Tossing and turning, trying to block out the noise in her head, but her thoughts kept going over every moment she messed up, returning again and again to Tua.

_Why_ was her mind like this?

Ruva buried her head under the pillow, trying – and failing – to quieten her thoughts.

_This_… this would end soon.

She would make sure of it.

All she needed to do was make it through the next couple of days, then she'd be back at Akarnae.

With such a busy schedule and her friends, she recover in a matter of days.

She _had_ to.

**Sorry for leaving you all with that cliff-hanger, but unfortunately I won't be able to update for a few weeks, thanks to everyone who still bothers to read each week (I know it's getting way too long)**


	33. Chapter 33

**Sorry for not updating for so long, I really struggled to write this chapter, and I've had a lot of other things going on. Please leave a review, every bit of feedback I get helps stop me procrastinating.**

**33**

Ruva stood in the palace receiving room, her bags packed and ready to go back to Akarnae. Sela and Corbin were at the door, waving their final goodbye. Corbin even seemed teary, he had only just gotten his daughter back, but she had to leave after only two weeks.

Ruva plastered on a fake smile, giving them a wave before she smashed her bubbler to the ground.

And as Ruva stepped through those blinding colours, she finally released her fake attitude, her sigh of relief lost thousands of miles away.

Coming out the other end of the bubbledoor, Ruva was disappointed to see the academy hadn't changed.

Everything was still buried in a layer of snow, the skies still overcast and grey, it was _just_ how she remembered it.

Feeling heavier than before, Ruva looked around, hoping to see Arra, but to no avail. She begrudgingly decided to head to her room, dropping off her, hopefully Arra was already there.

Suddenly her TCD buzzed, and Ruva pulled it out from her pocket.

Arra had sent another message, this one longer than the others.

"Hi guys!

Sorry but I won't be at school for a few weeks, our holiday's gone longer than planned. I'll check in as often as I can, but I don't have a lot of free time, so I'll see you later!"

_Oh_, thought Ruva. _Okay._

It was probably a good thing that Arra wouldn't be here, it'd give Ruva the time to recover and Arra wouldn't know the difference.

She would come back to a normal Ruva, one who felt happy when she woke up each day, and smiled whenever she saw flowers or puppies.

Normal Ruva would be happy to go for a walk or play a game, those things would energise her instead of leaving her flat.

And Normal Ruva would be excited to start her lessons and see all her friends again.

Normal Ruva seemed so far away.

Ruva's ribbons drifted around her once more, just enough to distract her from how ominous her thoughts were.

If her ribbons were sentient, which Ruva had long suspected – if only slightly – then she could arguably say that they were trying to help her. Whenever her thoughts turned dark, her ribbons were the first thing that came into view.

It could just be her subconscious mind, but her ribbons had always seemed to have a life of their own, swaying whichever way they pleased. They had always been calming for Ruva, something that she had always loved.

"Hey!"

Ruva flinched at the large noise, turning around to see Jaiden.

Her stomach dropped at the angry look on his face, at the way he clenched his fists as he powered down the hallway.

"Hey! What are you doing? Come on, tell me!" he said, getting up into Ruva's face.

Ruva tried to jump back, confused by his behaviour.

Last semester Jaiden had lost interest in hassling her, only taking an occasional dig when Arra wasn't around. Ruva had been grateful for the change, but now she was just confused.

Normally he would push her or shove her around, never getting in her face like this.

She didn't know how to defend herself in this situation, didn't know what was best.

So Ruva clamped her mouth shut, avoiding his eyes and tried to back away.

Jaiden did _not_ like that.

"Go on, say something! Anything!" He grabbed Ruva's shoulders and started shaking her. "WHY WON'T YOU TALK?!"

Was… was he _crying_?

Jaiden thumped the wall with his fist angrily wiping away his tears.

"Just… just _talk_," he said, sounding strained.

Ruva jumped away, trying to put space between them.

Jaiden flinched, then stormed down the hallway into Room 6. He slammed the door, the sound echoing down the hallway.

Ruva was beyond confused.

Why had Jaiden done that? What could make him so upset, so desperate? He wasn't trying to tease her or harm her. He wasn't bored and looking for entertainment, not judging by the conflicted look on his face.

_What could possibly_–

Tyron pounded up the stairs, almost running through the hallway. He elbowed Ruva out of the way, barely seeming to notice her.

He stopped at the door to Room 6, taking a deep breath before knocking on the door.

Tyron opened it a little, stepping into the room. "Jaiden?"

The door closed with a click, leaving Ruva in the silent hallway once more.

She stood in the hallway until she heard the chatter of other people, then she hurried into her room.

But in the hallway… Ruva had never seen anything like it.

Both of them were acting unusual, from Jaiden's violent reaction to the soft – maybe even _vulnerable_ – tone that Tyron used.

What had Jaiden been trying to do? What was the point in doing that? He had been so strangely, almost desperate to hear her speak.

Ruva was still trying to find a reason for their behaviour as she went into her room, putting her new bag on the desk and sitting on her bed.

For the first time, there was nobody sitting down opposite her. Arra wasn't here, wasn't _going_ to be here for weeks.

She'd been alone in their dorm before of course, but now it was different.

Arra's pink jacket wasn't sitting on the back of the chair, her brush and hair ties weren't scattered across the bathroom. None of her music was playing in the background, the scent of hot chocolates wasn't in the air.

She missed Arra so much, enough that it almost hurt.

She missed the way she hummed under her breath when she was busy, the way she always had a hot chocolate for when Ruva needed it. She missed the way Arra brushed her hair, soft little strokes slowly flowing down.

She missed her _friend_, and the dorm didn't feel right without her.

There was a knock on the door, but Ruva didn't get up. She was too tired, exhausted by her first day back at Akarnae. Besides, it wouldn't be Arra at the door, it would be somebody who wanted to _speak_ and _listen_ and _reply_ in a _conversation_.

It just sounded _painful_.

Ruva rested her head on the pillow, breathing in the slightly dusty scent of the room.

Nothing had changed.

She hadn't gotten better upon returning to Akarnae, the grounds hadn't relaxed her and energised her like she hoped.

How was she going to pull this off?

With an exhausting and rigid schedule, Ruva didn't stand a chance.

Nothing had changed.

…

Nearly three weeks later, Ruva was collapsed in her dorm, too exhausted to cry.

The bullying had gotten worse and worse and _worse_.

She didn't know what it was, but for some reason they were determined to bully her, especially Jaiden.

She couldn't hide from them, not when they slept in the same building, ate in the same food court, attended the same lessons.

The only places she could avoid them were her potential based classes and her dorm, neither of which seemed good.

Her classes were exhausting and distracting and _too much_, but her dorm was the opposite. Without Arra, it felt empty. Always too quiet, too cold, too dusty.

She was being absolutely drained by her classes, to the point where she'd finish classes for the day and just collapse in her room, dropping her latest pile of homework wherever there was space.

She would be too exhausted to do _anything_, let alone the homework gathering on her desk. She hadn't managed to do a single page, even when she tried.

But every time she sat down at her desk, she just couldn't concentrate, not even when she tried. The words would blur together, losing their meaning and becoming empty.

Two hours later, the page would be as blank as when she started.

As it was, Doc, Marmaduke and Luranda had all noticed the drop in her schoolwork, all giving different offers.

Doc was willing to extend the due date for her, recommending books that would help her understand the topic better.

Marmaduke was less lenient with the date, but offered extra tutoring to stop her falling behind.

But Luranda… she offered no such support.

She was given plenty of detentions, and Luranda spent most of the time lecturing about time management and choosing priorities. Luranda began to target her in class, giving her more detentions for whenever she failed to take notes or messed up her practical by not paying attention.

And finally, in her latest detention with the spiteful teacher, she had issued Ruva a final deadline.

_All_ of the homework she hadn't started was due in her lesson on Monday, anything that wasn't handed in would be getting a failing grade.

Ruva could tell by the tone of voice that Luranda was using that she was trying to give Ruva a chance. This was Luranda's best offer, the bending of her rules so she wouldn't fail.

And though it might seem noble in her intentions, it sucked.

But it was Sunday night now, and Ruva still hadn't started.

She _couldn't _start.

There was just _too __much_.

Besides, everyone else was becoming so overwhelming.

Jaiden was still acting strangely, glaring at her whenever she entered the room, when she had done absolutely nothing. Leo had been distant, avoiding talking to her, even when they were sitting at the same table. Arra was still gone, still showing pictures of all the amazing places she'd been, saying that she'd be back 'soon'.

Ruva shut her eyes, squeezing them so hard they started to hurt. Maybe if she concentrated hard enough, she wouldn't be in her room.

She would be somewhere else, somewhere safer and happier, where Tua still loved her and Arra would bring her hot chocolates and Harry would make her laugh and Leo would hug her like he did that day on the roof and she would be happy.

Was that too much to ask?

Yes. Yes it was.

It was selfish and greedy and despicable for Ruva to want people to do that for her. They had their own lives, with problems far worse than Ruva's. Nothing had happened to her, Tua had just left her, that's all.

Her friends were much stronger. Arra was raised with an abusive step-father, Leo was born without a voice, and Harry was – well, nothing had happened to Harry, but he still managed to take every insult in his stride.

_Selfish selfish selfish selfish selfish selfish_

Ruva's thoughts chased her into the night.

She didn't sleep a wink.

…

The sun rose the next morning, and Ruva was still on the floor of her room.

Her legs had long since gone numb, but not as numb as she felt inside.

There was nothing.

Nothing left inside her.

She wasn't going to get better, why had she ever believed that? She had hoped and hoped that she would become better or at least improve with time, but she had only gotten worse.

She had only. Gotten. Worse.

Ruva was _not_ getting up, not when there was no point. She didn't care about her lessons, her teachers would probably be glad to be working with less students.

Besides, nobody relied on her.

Nobody needed her.

Nobody cared about her.

…

Leo was sitting in SOSAC, rubbing his neck and tapping his foot.

Where was Ruva? Often this semester she had been late, but this late? The lesson started _half-an- hour_ _ago_.

Before Leo would've reached out with his gift, asking where Ruva was and what was taking her so long, but not now. He barely trusted himself to talk to her, when he might accidentally reveal something and make her uncomfortable.

_No_, that's the last thing he'd want to do to her.

It was best to not say anything, even avoid her than make things awkward between them. Besides, Ruva deserved the best, not a poor, disabled child like him.

Those words still stung every time, even though he'd been hearing them since he was born. Every time an adult had seen him using the sign language he'd made up with his siblings, they'd always have the same pitying look on their faces.

It was always the same, whether he signed, wrote, typed – even used his gift – he'd always find that look of pity.

He hated how worthless it made him feel, that he could never be as good as he normal people around him.

There were too few people who treated him the same as everyone else, only his Mum and Dad – and all of his siblings.

And Ruva.

She had never ignored him or tread careful footsteps around him, she became friends with him, maybe even _more_ than friends.

At least, that's the way he liked to imagine it.

In his imagination Ruva would love him to the end of the world. She would whisper 'I love you' in his ear, run her small hands on his neck and down his back. She would smile every time she saw him, and always wrap her arms around him.

The bell rung, and Leo hurriedly got up, realising he had been day-dreaming again.

He hurried off to his next class Chemistry, only realising when he was out of the door that Ruva still hadn't shown up.

…

'–_But I'm worried,_' said Leo, his lunch sitting in front of him, untouched. '_Last time she didn't come to lessons it was because she had a panic attack._'

Harry sighed, slouching onto the food court table. "I know, I know, you're crushing on Ruva and worried now that you didn't see her in – what was it? Three lessons? I think you're going too far."

Leo shook his head. '_That's what you said last __time__, and you were wrong._'

Harry put down his sandwich, looking Leo in the eye. "Listen, if you're that worried, why don't you just ask her? Go over to the dorms, knock on her door and ask if she's alright." When Leo stayed silent, Harry added, "I could do it for you, if you want."

Leo quickly shook his head.

Judging by Harry's wry tone, _his_ way of asking would involve way too much unnecessary detail.

Details like how he had fallen for her.

'_I can't "_just ask her_",_' he said.

"Why not?" Harry replied, much too quick for Leo's liking.

'_I just – I just _can't_, okay?_'

No way was he going to explain everything, about how awkward things could become, how it would hurt him to know that Ruva didn't love him back. It was better this way, where he could pretend her smiles and flushed cheeks meant more than they did.

Leo slumped into his chair. '_It's complicated._'

Harry gave him a pat on the back, and said something else, but Leo didn't hear it.

…

Ruva had been in her room all day.

Nobody had noticed she'd been gone.

Nobody had cared.

At one point she thought she heard a knock on the door, but when she didn't answer it went away.

She'd watched the light slowly track across the bedroom, listened to the students moving to and from their classrooms.

Not her.

Nobody needed her.

She was never going out.

…

Late that evening, there was another knock on her door. This one was more solid, a louder and more confident knock than before.

Ruva ignored it, but the person at the other end didn't leave, only knocked louder. Then they said something, but it was muffled through the room's soundproofing.

"…Ruva….door…classes….second…open….force…"

The voice had increased in volume, and from what Ruva could tell, it was male. It continued yelling for some time, and Ruva felt a faint pang of curiosity as to why he kept trying.

But soon the person gave up and left, and Ruva was alone once more.

Her thoughts drifted around – and so did her ribbons.

Her gift ribbon was paling, meaning she was running out of energy, which was good. Soon she would be exhausted, and then she would fall asleep.

Sleep was her safety, where everything was warm and silent.

She longed for sleep, so she made herself more tired by pushing and pulling her ribbons, wasting her energy on useless manoeuvres.

But just as she was getting exhausted, she heard three beeps from the direction of the door, the foreign sound snapping her right out of her daze.

The door hissed open, and Professor Marselle was standing there, Device in hand.

How had he gotten into her dorm?

His eyes were much sterner than his usual twinkly gaze, until he saw the condition of Ruva and her room.

Nobody but Ruva had come in here since last term, and she had been struggling at the weight of her schoolwork, no time for anything else. To say it succinctly, it was a mess.

Clothes were strewn across the floor, homework and textbooks were scattered across every surface. Everything that was not covered in clothes had a layer of dust on it, especially Arra's bed.

She hadn't touched Arra's things, couldn't bring herself to use them or borrow them like she often did last term.

Marselle's eyes softened as he looked around the room, and then at Ruva herself.

She wasn't sure what he was looking for in her chapped lips, messy hair and dirty clothes, but his face melted in pity, anything action he planned to take now irrelevant.

"Miss Springden?" He started, his tone cautious. "Is everything okay?"

Ruva stared at him, trying to work out why he was saying this.

No, she wasn't okay, but why was he asking? He had somehow gotten into her room without her bio-signature, just to ask if she was _okay_? It didn't sound right.

"I… I'm going to need you to come with me, Miss Springden, you've been in here far too long."

Marselle offered his hand, and the tiniest spark of hope flickered in Ruva's chest.

…

Ruva sat on a bed in the med ward, sucking on a rehydration toffee. She had been subject to Fletcher's ministrations, and she was feeling more confident.

Fletcher was currently standing in front of a cabinet, typing notes into his MedTek. He was frowning at his screen, his gaze continuously flicking back to Ruva.

She looked right back at him, his gaze seeming to travel straight through her.

Eventually, he noticed her stare, and he cleared his throat, walking over.

"I've analysed the scans, and physically, everything is in order. You were just a little dehydrated, that's all. However…" he paused, his eyes gliding across her once more.

"However, I'd like to do one more test, a test about your mental health."

Ruva nodded slightly, unsure why Fletcher wanted to do this.

She knew about mental health, about how some people's brains had malfunctions making them think or see things differently. Some people had vivid hallucinations or created bizarre rules for themselves.

"I'll start now, please answer each question as honestly as you can," said Fletcher, grabbing a clipboard and pen.

"Question One: How often do you feel tired for no good reason?"

Ruva knew the answer straight away, but it seemed wrong to admit it. What if Fletcher judged her for it?

She stayed silent, looking at her bare feet dangling from the bed.

Fletcher sighed, putting the pen down. "Please, Ruva, I can't help you if you don't help me. I know you have to be vulnerable to answer these questions, but I won't share these answers with anyone who doesn't need to know. Doctor-patient confidentiality."

Ruva took a deep breath, and Fletcher smiled.

"All the time," Ruva admitted. "All the time."

Fletcher nodded, picking his pen back up. "Next question: How often have you felt nervous, and how often have you been so nervous you couldn't function properly?"

"I haven't," Ruva answered in a monotone. "I've barely felt anything."

Fletcher scribbled in more notes before moving to the next question.

"How often have you felt fidgety or restless?"

"I haven't had enough energy for that."

"How often did you feel that everything was an effort?"

"Too much. All the time."

"How often did you feel so sad that nothing could cheer you up?"

"Um… quite a lot. More than I should."

"How often did you feel depressed?"

Ruva paused there. She had never thought about it that way. Depressed was a good word to describe how she had been feeling.

"Yes," she said, and Fletcher gave her a look.

It was only then that she realised that 'yes' wasn't an acceptable answer to '_How often have you felt depressed?_'.

But before she could answer, Fletcher finished scribbling notes. "Thank you for cooperating with me for that, Ruva, I know you may have found that difficult to open up with me."

Fletcher put the clipboard down, reaching for his device and inputting details, when he had finished he turned to Ruva, taking a deep breath.

"Judging by the answers you gave me, I believe you may have depression, Ruva." He waited for some sort of response, for her to cry out, perhaps.

Depression was… someone who was sad all the time. Somebody who cried all the time, and hurt and cut themselves, sometimes leading to suicide. She didn't have that.

She hadn't once tried to cut herself, and she definitely hadn't attempted to kill herself. Although… she had _thought_ about it a few times. The thought would randomly come into her head, and then she would shove it right back down, she didn't _want_ to think that.

"Ruva, I'm not a certified therapist, and with this I could be wrong. But… I want to help you. Mental health is something very close to me, especially since my daughter – my Hailey – committed suicide." Fletcher paused, taking a deep breath, his eyes glazing over for a second.

"Anyway, I will give you all the support that I can," he said, going straight back into doctor mode. "But what you need is someone you can trust. Someone your own age, who can help you where I can't."

"What you really need…" said Fletcher, looking into Ruva's eyes. "–is a friend."

Hope sparked in Ruva's chest.

She could do that.

She would make it happen.


	34. -note-

**Note:**

**I know I haven't updated, and I blame that on procrastination and writer's block. Sorry I haven't been able to give you more, I know lots of people love this story. I'll try to update soon, but I can't give a time period on it. Sorry.**

**Readstoomanybooks**


	35. Chapter 34

**Dedicating this chapter to cs (guest) your continued reviews are really appreciated!**

**Please leave a review**

**34**

"Find a friend," Ruva whispered to herself, staring across the food court.

She already knew who the friend could be, had known it since the moment Fletcher had released her last night.

_Leo_.

Well, the finding bit was easy; Leo was just over there, sitting at their table with Harry.

But as Ruva sat down at their table, she realised that _finding_ wasn't all she had to do; she needed to _talk_ to Leo, tell him that she needed help and someone to trust.

It seemed so daunting.

Ruva sat with them the entire time, listening to the conversation, smiling and nodding where smiling and nodding was needed. She found gaps where it would be the perfect time to ask or contribute, but the words were trapped in her throat. Trapped.

She had only a few small bites for breakfast, leaving nearly all her toast on her plate.

The bell rung, she went to the next lesson.

Epsilon PE.

Exhausting, but she didn't need to speak, all she needed to do was breathe and run and dodge. She could do that.

Easy.

Next lesson.

It was theory, but she couldn't remember what for. Leo was there.

She didn't say anything.

Next lesson.

Equestrian skills.

Next lesson.

Next lesson.

Next. Lesson.

Ruva walked out of her last class in a haze.

She hadn't managed to speak to Leo – or anyone, really. Why did she think that she would be able to do this? For weeks now – or was it months? – she hadn't been able to concentrate properly, or achieve _anything_ important.

Yep, something was definitely wrong with her. Fletcher was unsure if depression was the correct diagnosis, as the extra tests he did showed she fit in the criteria for other mental illnesses.

She wasn't _scared_ of her diagnosis, though.

It just meant her brain had a malfunction, something that shouldn't be there.

It was just something that needed healing, the same way as a broken bone or a wound needed to heal. It might take time, or a few different methods, but she could learn how to function with her brain, find ways around the things that were stopping her.

Ruva's thoughts followed her up to her dorm, where she dropped her textbooks on the crowded desk and took in a deep breath. All she wanted to do was go and lie on her bed, stare at the wall and all the mess in her room.

_No_, thought Ruva. _I'll only feel worse staring at this mess. I need to go somewhere else._

Ruva walked out of her dorm, shutting the door behind her.

…

Somewhere else ended up being the rec room, and Ruva was sitting in a quiet corner, watching everyone else interact and speak with each other.

She sipped at the hot chocolate she had ordered, but it tasted dull compared to Arra's. The warm mug heated Ruva's hands, but then it started to burn them.

Once the hot liquid was finished, she placed the mug down, feeling ready to go back, even though she was enjoying herself.

But doing nothing near other people was better than doing nothing by herself.

Sometimes it _hurt_, seeing people interact with their friends so well, laughing so much and feeling _happy_.

But it could be worse, she could be staring at a blank wall in her room right now, hearing nothing but her own thoughts.

Here her thoughts were quietened, drowned out by the happiness of the people around her.

The night went on, people coming and going, but Ruva didn't move from her spot. Even when she began to grow tired, she didn't want to go back to her empty room.

She would just stay here, where everything felt happier.

…

Sometime later, Ruva woke up shivering.

She was still in her seat in the rec room, having fallen asleep there when she didn't want to return to her room.

It was dark. No light – not even moonlight – could reach the basement.

Ruva uncurled from her position, stretching her cold limbs, hearing them crack in the darkness. She seemed so noisy in the otherwise silent room.

But there was no way she could stay there, not when she was freezing and her foot was numb,

Ruva slowly – _slowly_ – got up. She stretched out her arms and stumbled towards where she thought the doors were.

But before she could make it two steps, the room flooded with light, blinding light that made her cower.

She covered her face and dropped to the floor, a reflex as she listened for whoever had caught her.

Silence.

There was only silence.

It wasn't possible, the only thing she could hear was her own breathing, people couldn't be _that_ silent.

Could they?

Ruva stayed on the ground, her heart pounding. What was that noise? Was that a person? Was it another noise or her imagination?

She stayed crouching for far too long, until she realised that whoever had turned the lights on her would have said something by now.

She slowly stood up, blinking at the harsh light until she could see the rec room clearly.

She started to sweat as she looked around the room, checking for anything that could be a threat.

There was nobody.

Relief flooded through Ruva, her shoulders loosened and she took in a deep breath.

It must have been some sort of automatic light, one that activates when it senses movement.

Ruva stumbled across the bright rec room to the nearest screen, checking the time.

She felt her stomach sink when she read the time, knowing why she was so cold and everything was quiet.

It was two o'clock in the morning.

Ruva was walking towards the stairs – more steadily than earlier – before she realised she was heading for her room.

_It doesn't really matter_, thought Ruva, _I'll be asleep in minutes, anyway._

So Ruva walked up to her dorm, up the empty staircase and through the icy hallways. She pushed open her dorm door, snuggling into her empty bed.

She was tired enough that all she wanted to do was fall asleep.

She didn't.

She couldn't.

No matter what position she tried, or how much she moved around, she was still stuck inside her head, inside her room, inside her life.

It was going to be a long night.

…

Ruva didn't sleep that night, and when the sun rose and she rolled out of bed, more exhausted than when she'd started.

She stood up and headed for the rec room, only remembering at the last minute to put on warmer clothes – it was _winter_ after all.

She went all the way out to the food court, barely noticing the glistening frost coating everything, or that nobody else was around.

It was only when she tried to open the doors to the food court did she realise that it was _dawn_, and that the food court wasn't going to be open for hours yet.

Ruva sighed, staring at the frost-covered glass.

What was she supposed to do now? There was no way she'd be going back to her room, not when it felt so numbing. She _could_ go down to the rec room, but it felt draining just thinking about it. She would walk back from where she came, go back down to where she started, having literally no improvement and the depression sitting on her like a heavy elephant.

So what was she going to do?

Ruva looked around, her eyes falling upon the stables.

Of course! She could go over there and go for a dawn ride with Dancer, like she used to do before she found Tua.

_Tua_…

She had handled it all pretty terribly.

When Tua had left her, all she said was 'okay.' She hadn't been able to fight, or ask why, or tell her bird what she thought, all she could do was agree.

She was weak.

And then when Sela had asked about it, she just ran away, like she always did.

She was scared.

And then, when she finally came back, all she did was pile her concerns upon Sela. She made her burden heavier, because she didn't want to carry the weight herself.

She was selfish.

_Weak scared coward selfish weak scared coward selfish weak scared coward selfish_

"Stop," she whispered, pushing her fingers through her hair. "I won't get better if I think like that."

Ruva squeezed her plait between her hands, until her fingers were pale and stiff.

It was a good distraction, giving her hands something to hold onto, but it couldn't solve her problems.

Ruva's feet began to grow sore, and she realised that she had been standing there for far too long.

She needed to clear her head.

A ride would be perfect for that.

So she walked over to the stable, her breath and eyes misty.

She stepped into the stable, relishing at the comforting smell of horses and the extra heat within the building. She trod past the stables of familiar horses, knowing most of them by name. Finally she came to Dancer's stool, finding that she was wide awake.

"Dancer, it's me. Ruva," she said, when Dancer didn't see her.

Dancer exhaled, her ears twitching. "I know it is, Ruva Equine Speaker. I've been waiting every day to see if you would come."

Ruva sensed that Dancer was irritated – no, that wasn't the right word to use, she seemed… _frosty_. Yes, that sounded better. – Ruva sensed that Dancer was frosty, but she couldn't work out why.

"But I'm here now, Dancer. Let's go for a ride."

Dancer turned towards Ruva, lifting her head up so it towered above her.

"But you haven't been here for the past _month_, have you?" she said, her hooves stomping threateningly close to Ruva's feet.

Her voice fell into a monotone, and she glanced out at the forest. "You promised I would get to see my sister as much as I wanted, and I haven't seen her _once_. You've only come for lessons, I haven't had a ride with just you and me and my sister for… for… for a _year_."

Ruva blinked, trying to remember the last time she had gone for a ride through the forest with her.

She had spent plenty of time in the forest, but she could only remember being with _Tua_, not anyone else.

Dancer was… _right_.

"I'm sorry," whispered Ruva. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry."

Dancer snorted, stamping her hoof on the ground. "Say sorry as much as you want, but it won't fix what you deprived of me."

Ruva clamped her mouth shut, tears starting to form.

"Goodbye, Ruva Equine Speaker," said Dancer, tossing her head.

Ruva turned around and walked away from Dancer.

She didn't cry until she heard the door shut behind her.

…

Leo was in Gamma Combat, panting at the effort to hold up his defence.

He had been partnered against one of the fourth years – Sean? – and he was really struggling in the snowy conditions. They got hardly any snow back up in Tryllin, and his first year at the academy he had been thrown in cold turkey – _literally_.

It didn't help that he was tired, either, having none of the energy that he usually had.

_That_ was his fault, at least, he pushed himself hard in PE and then only slept in bouts last night.

Sean ducked under his arm, sweeping his leg out to try and trip him over.

The move failed as he didn't swing hard enough, but it still jolted Leo's leg, making it throb.

He hissed, swinging out his own leg to kick him back, but Sean dodged it, and pulled him to the ground.

He fell backwards, his head slamming against the ground.

Leo stayed there, panting, admitting defeat.

The snow beneath him was getting into his shirt, but he barely noticed it, not when his head was throbbing so much.

"You're out, Leo," said Karter. "Lesson ends in five minutes, time to stretch."

Leo sat up, clenching his jaw at the throbbing in his head.

Sean stood up beside him, brushing the snow off his pants. "You should get Fletcher to look at that," he said, before walking off.

Leo was unsurprised by Sean's abruptness, and he pulled himself up, swaying from the knock to his head. His fingers reached up to his head, tentatively feeling for damage. Well, it wasn't bleeding, but it was definitely going to leave a mighty bruise.

He spent the last few minutes stretching, and when the gong went he headed for the Med Ward.

Once there, Fletcher dosed him up with some general pain relief and sent him on his way.

Leo moved with renewed energy towards the food court, hoping to catch a glimpse of Ruva.

He bumped into her just as she came out the door.

'_Ruva! Uh… hi,_' he said, dropping his eyes and resisting the urge to rub his neck.

"Leo. Um… where are you going?" Ruva's voice was quieter than usual, he could barely hear it over the distant hum of the food court.

'_Just… just to the food court. To get some lunch._'

Leo looked up at Ruva, and… Leo had never seen her look so… _dishevelled_.

Her skin was a ghostly shade of white, and her hair was barely hanging in its plait, most of it drifting freely behind her. And the bags under her eyes, the bluish-purple colour making her look even worse.

'_Are you okay?_' he accidentally sent, gritting his teeth as he felt Ruva receive the message.

Ruva pushed some of the hair out of her eyes, blinking at Leo. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She swallowed and tried again.

Still nothing.

And then, Leo heard her soft voice in her head. '_I… I don't know. I need… I need some help._'

Leo's knees shook at the sound, how her usually small voice echoed through his mind. '_Help with what?_' he said.

Ruva froze, her eyes darting around. She seemed absolutely terrified.

Leo moved towards her, watching her gulp in tiny breaths. '_It's okay – you can trust me._'

Ruva's eyes locked on him, her mussed hair framing her face.

Leo was caught in her gaze, and the rest of the world melted away. _She just looked so_–

But before he could finish, Jaiden charged between them, shoving them apart.

"Get out of my way," he grunted, "Why are you _always_ in my way?"

Now _that_ wasn't fair at all, but Leo's mind was too muddled to answer clearly.

By the time he knew what to say, Jaiden was gone.

He turned to Ruva, '_Did he hurt you?_'

Ruva shook her head.

Leo was about to ask what she needed, when the gong rung.

People flooded out of the food court, and the two of them went their separate ways.

…

Ruva was sitting on her bed, staring at the moonlit wall. It was late Saturday night – actually, it would be Sunday morning by now.

She hadn't managed much sleep the past couple of days, and she wasn't sure if it was from her classes, the people around her, or her depression.

Maybe it was all of them.

Everything had gone wrong since she tried to ask Leo for help.

She had been _so close_, and then Jaiden got in the way, stealing all Ruva's confidence. After that Leo was gone, and even though she had gone looking, she couldn't find Leo anywhere.

It seemed like he was… _avoiding_ her.

As soon as she realised that, she stopped searching for him.

If Leo didn't want to hear her problems, she wasn't going to tell him.

Leo shouldn't hold Ruva's burden if he didn't want to, and even though she craved to tell him, she could respect his space.

It only hurt a little bit when she thought about it.

Not like Jaiden. What he was doing hurt much more.

Whenever he saw her, he lashed out, trying to push her or punch her or thumping the desk when she was too far away.

He was so _full_ of hostility, and she hadn't done _anything_.

Far too long she'd been thinking about why he was doing it – She hadn't even spoken to him _all term_ – but when she couldn't work it out, she'd just feel worse than ever.

She couldn't lay down, anyway, not with the bruise on her shoulder blade.

It wasn't much, it was just from when Jaiden pushed her into a wall, nothing serious. It wasn't even swollen.

Ruva blinked, realising that there was light streaming from behind the curtains. – Not like the first rays of dawn, the day had well and truly started.

Ruva stood up, listening to her joints pop and crack.

Today was Sunday, right? Good. No class today.

The door creaked open, and Ruva heard a gasp.

It was _Arra_.


	36. Chapter 35

**Hey everyone, I know this story has been pretty depressing, hopefully you guys enjoy this one, I really liked writing it.**

**35**

Arra was standing in the doorway, staring at the dorm – at _Ruva_.

Her mouth was hanging open, she barely managed to keep hold of her bags.

_She hates me, doesn't she,_ thought Ruva. _Look how disappointed she is._

Arra's bags thump on the floor, then she was surrounded by her friend's plump arms.

All Ruva could do was gasp, wrapping her own arms around Arra, stunned by the embrace.

"Are you okay?" whispered Arra.

Ruva felt a flicker of panic, but she was still able to answer. "Not really. I've got… got… depression. Maybe."

The word seemed to hang in the room, and a weight didn't lift off Ruva's shoulders like she had imagined. She felt heavier and heavier with every moment that passed, already imagining her leaving and never coming back.

Arra was silent for a moment, then she said, "Is there a way I can help?"

Ruva's knees buckled with gratitude, it was the best possible answer she could've received. She hadn't asked when, she hadn't asked why – she didn't even know _that_ answer – Ruva knew just what she needed right now.

"I'd… I'd like one of your hot chocolates, and music and my hair…" Ruva cut off, realising the things she wanted were pretty pathetic.

"It's okay," she finally said, "I don't _need_ those things."

Arra smiled, her amber eyes lighting up. "It's okay, I can do those easily. I thought you were going to ask for an inspiring speech or something dramatic, of course I'll do those things for you."

Ruva smiled, she felt warm inside for the first time in weeks.

…

A few hours later, the two of them were sitting on Arra's bed, listening to music as Arra brushed Ruva's hair. She'd been working at it for half an hour, now, carefully making her way through all the knots.

Ruva was sipping on one of Arra's hot chocolates, marvelling at the rich taste, with just a hint of caramel.

The curtains were open too, letting in the winter light. The floor and desk were still covered in stuff, but for once, Ruva was feeling peaceful. Not exactly happy, but… satisfied.

She could hear Arra's hairbrush ripping through her hair behind her, trying to clear more than a week's worth of knots. She was doing an excellent job, though, Ruva's hair was slowly getting back to its unknotted self.

Everything wasn't as perfect as she'd dreamed of, but it was still good.

Just then, both of their TCDs buzzed.

Arra picked up hers, and her breathing hitched when she read the message.

"What is it?" Ruva whispered, wondering what sort of message could do that.

Arra took in a shaky breath. "There's been a battle. At Graevale."

"Are the Shadow Walkers fighting the Dayriders?" asked Ruva, her stomach sinking at the thought.

The two races were always antagonistic towards each other, it would make sense that a dispute had become an attack, but the news was still horrifying.

"N-No," said Arra. "It's worse than that. M-Meyarins."

Ruva froze up. "_Meyarins_?" she whispered, not believing what she'd heard.

Arra nodded, it was all the confirmation Ruva needed.

Her stomach plummeted, her hands reaching up to her necklace.

Arra whispered the information, the updates that came through in the following minutes.

With each word that she said, Ruva gripped her necklace tighter and tighter, everything feeling heavier after all this weight. Tears leaked from her eyes when she thought of all the deaths that would occur, how she could do nothing about it.

After Arra had finished reading, they sat in silence, the only noise being Arra's music.

The bouncy and usually relaxing tune felt shallow, now, and it did nothing the pierce the vast abyss of her emotions.

A knock sounded at the door, Arra wiping away her tears before answering it.

It was Harry.

He spoke in a sombre voice, the quietest Ruva had ever heard him. "Marselle's calling an assembly in the food court about… the _thing_. It's on now, and they want everyone to come."

Arra nodded. "We'll come now, just let us grab our coats."

A minute or two later, they headed down the stairs, joining the silent congregation of people heading to the food court.

Some people had teary eyes, some were sniffing. Some were numb, some were panicky.

All of them knew.

The food court was eerily silent, especially with all the people in it. The only noise was people's breathing and footsteps making it feel like a hospital ward late at night.

Once all the people were inside, every chair in the food court was filled, and some had to lean against the walls.

The staff were all there, too, each standing, at different spots around the court, just as grave as the students.

Marselle stood up on a platform and began to speak.

"I'm sure all of you have heard the news by now," he started, stroking his beard nervously. "And I have called this assembly to inform you with all the information I have, and what this will mean for us in the coming times.

"First of all, I will confirm that there was indeed an attack on Graevale today, with Meyarins attacking the city, and the human armies were called to assist.

"There has been–" he paused, choking for breath. "_Dramatic_ loss of life, and there is a chance that someone you know has been involved in the fighting.

"Because of this, class has been cancelled for at least the next week, and we, as the faculty of Akarnae, highly encourage you to reach out to your family and friends, to support each other and know that we're all going through this together.

"Dark times lay ahead, it may become a situation where the academy is no longer safe, or that you miss the comfort of your family. As such, all students will be allowed to return to their homes for the week, and know that your family is welcome here, if it is needed.

"We will do everything we can to support you in the coming days, Akarnae will survive these dark times."

Marselle stopped, and there was silence once more. In a quieter voice he spoke, "You're welcome to return to your dorms, Magdelina will be available in the food court all day for counselling. You are dismissed."

Most people started walking out again, quiet whispers echoing through the food court.

Arra was still next to her, and she kept her hand on Ruva's shoulder as they walked out.

Everything was so _different_.

It felt heavy. Quiet. Real.

Ruva wished it wasn't.

…

The next few hours were blurred together, nobody knew how they were supposed to act. The rec room was full of people, people who didn't want to be sad by themselves. There was silence, and sniffing, little whispers of support across the room.

Someone started ordering many warm drinks for people, passing them around the room and offering them to everyone. Ruva accepted one, allowing the hot liquid to ground her.

It was surreal seeing people crying, or numb, or in shock, like how she had felt for months. She felt understood, and even though they didn't all act the same way as she had, they all felt that way.

Eventually it became dark, and Ruva began the walk back up to her room, ready for silence and a bit of time to herself.

But halfway up the stairs, Tyron stopped her.

Ruva's stomach dropped, _surely_ he didn't want to hurt her, not after all _this_.

"I… I need to say something," he said in his gruff voice, his eyes darting from side to side.

Ruva glanced at him in curiosity, her focus bringing his ribbons into view.

"Well – uh, – really, I'd like to say… sorry. For treating you badly."

Ruva blinked, trying to fit in what he had said.

"I've got nothing against you – _really_, I don't – the only reason I let Jaiden push you around is because of what he reminds you of."

Tyron gulped before continuing, "Jaiden stuffed up really bad in the holidays. His _gift_…" He stopped again, grinding his teeth. "Anyway, every time he saw you, it reminded him of it. Over and over and over. Day after day after day.

"It _hurt_ him, it really did. But… he's actually pretty amazing…" Tyron drifted off, his brown eyes sparkling with passion

.

But that wasn't all Ruva noticed.

The white ribbon between them, the ribbon of friendship, had a slight tinge of pink, showing… _more_ than friendship.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is…" Tyron continued, "I don't hate you, and neither does Jaiden, really. He just hates what you remind him of."

Ruva gave a small nod, and managed to choke out, "Give him all the help that you can."

Tyron's eyes widened, but he just nodded and stepped aside.

Ruva walked past him, sensing his eyes follow her up the stairs.

The rest of the trip was even more silent than before, the only people up here were the ones who wanted to be sad by themselves.

But before she could reach the door, a hand landed on her shoulder.

She jumped, spinning around, but it was only Harry, a frantic look on his face.

"Have you seen Leo?" he whispered, even that sounding loud. "I haven't been able to find him since Marselle's speech. I'm worried."

Ruva shook her head. "I haven't seen him either."

Harry frowned. "Can you try doing that thing where you talk into his head?"

Ruva nodded and pushed her thoughts to Leo.

'_Leo? Harry has been looking for you. He's really worried._'

His response came instantly. '_Tell him I'm safe and well. I just… needed some space._'

She relayed the message to Harry, and he looked relieved.

But once he left, a niggling doubt in Ruva's mind made her speak to Leo again.

'_Are you sure you're alright by yourself?_'

No response.

'_Leo?_'

This time he spoke. '_Maybe not. I wouldn't mind… a little bit of company._'

'_I'll come, just tell me where you are._'

When he didn't respond, Ruva sighed, knowing she wouldn't be able to force him.

Instead she used a different method – albeit unusual one. She focused in on the ribbons still floating around her, looking for the pink one between her and Leo.

When she saw it, she nudged all of the other ribbons out of the way, looking to where it was leading to.

The ribbon was going… _up_.

Of course, Leo was on the roof.

Ruva remembered what he'd said to her on the roof, way back in the summer holidays.

'_I come here when I'm feeling overwhelmed,_' He had said_, _'_It's always so quiet up here, quiet enough that I don't feel out of place._'

So Leo would be on the roof because he was feeling… overwhelmed?

Today's events would be more than enough to overwhelm someone, and Ruva suddenly realised she wanted to help Leo. She wanted to be there for him.

Filled with renewed confidence, Ruva walked across her dorm, opening the window to the chilly evening air. Leo had to have gotten on the roof somehow, and this was the most obvious way she could think of.

Ruva lifted her hand to the gutter, pulling against its weight to see if it would hold her.

When it did, she carefully lifted herself up, making sure not to put too much pressure on any one spot.

Once she was safely up, she looked around.

_There he was_.

His head was bowed, and she could hear the faint sound of sniffing.

Leo looked up, his wet eyes glistening and his lips pulling into the slightest smile.

Ruva walked over and sat down beside him.

She closed her eyes and listened to the night sounds, she could really understand why Leo liked it up here.

Finally she opened her eyes again, and – no louder than a whisper – she asked, "Are you okay?"

Leo shook his head, breathing shaky breaths.

Ruva put a hand on his shoulder, "What's wrong?"

Leo held up his TCD, '_Just after Marselle's speech… I got a message._'

Ruva reached for the Device, her stomach sinking when she read the message.

It was from Leo's mum, dear Mrs Wendyl, a message that made her hurt.

_Hey Lion, I'm sure you've heard the news about Graevale by now. Nick was there. He was with the ISDS on the Dayrider side when it began, and nobody knows where he is, or if he's safe._

The message was short, but Ruva could feel the anxiety leaking out of it.

She took in a shaky breath of her own, giving Leo a squeeze on the shoulder.

"I know it's hard," she whispered. "Not knowing what will happen. But… I'll help. If I can."

Leo put his own hand on top of Ruva's, squeezing hard and filling her with warmth.

And then he shuffled in even closer, pulling her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him, watching the stars above them and the ribbons dancing around her. Tears trickled down his face – or was it hers? – everything seemed to become even better.

Eventually, he pulled back, but kept his arms around hers.

'_I'm not really sure what I need yet,_' he said, '_but I think… I think I need you._'

Leo leaned in, his lips closing the gap between them and–

She pulled away.

She just pulled away.

Not by much, just enough that his lips brushed her jawbone, goosebumps running down her spine.

_She_ _pulled away_.

Leo jerked back, and Ruva heard him gulp. 'Sorry_. I thought you wanted that. _I_ wanted that, not you. Sorry. Sorry sorry sorry._'

Ruva put a finger to his lips, even though that wasn't where the words were coming from.

He took in a deep breath, before trying again. '_Can I please kiss you? I've wanted to for a really long time because… I like you. I always have._'

Ruva felt a flutter at the words, but she didn't respond straight away. First she reached out for her ribbons, reaching for the pink one between them. For the first time in more than a year, she grasped the ribbon, letting its pink-tinted memories wash over her.

Last time Ruva saw it, she had seen tiny moments and shallow gestures that were meant to explain why she would love him, things that scared her.

But not this time. She saw when Leo had gone looking for her after she'd found out about Epsilon PE, she felt his compassion from the New Year's Eve they'd spent at Arra's café, how he'd pulled away from her so he wouldn't hurt her. The feeling that he would always listen to her, and she to him.

It was beautiful.

_He_ was beautiful.

When Ruva opened her eyes, she felt heat blossom in her chest from the look Leo gave her, how he was patiently waiting for an answer. He really cared about her, enough that he was willing to respect her choice.

"Okay," she whispered, "You can kiss me."

A small smile appeared across his face before he leaned in, pressing his lips against hers.

It wasn't perfect, it didn't burn with passion like she had imagined once, it was more… _soft_. Sweet. Warm.

When they two of them eased back, Ruva gave a nervous smile, just as small as Leo's.

They were both silent for a moment, each asking the question floating around them.

Leo answered first with a shrug. '_It wasn't how I imagined, but I liked it._'

Ruva relaxed at Leo's neutral response, she didn't know what she would've said if he'd acted too passionately. She shrugged and said, "I don't know… It felt nice, but I don't think I want more."

Leo sagged, and Ruva quickly continued, trying not to hurt him. "But… I do think I want to hold hands, and hug, and squeezes too. Because… I like that. And… I think I like you, too."

A smile appeared on Leo's lips that she had never seen before, one that pulled his lips upwards and made his cheeks flush red. It made him look cute.

Ruva reached out and grabbed his hand, mirroring his smile.

Maybe things would be okay.

…

Leo felt nice sitting next to Ruva, how she let him rest his head on her shoulder. But even as their warmth was radiating from his chest, Leo still felt heavy in the stomach as he remembered Nick. He was still missing, and he couldn't do anything about it.

The two of them stayed on the roof for hours, only coming back down when it started to snow and they were shivering.

They were walking down the stairs when Ruva asked, "What are you going to do now?"

Leo paused for a moment, then said, '_I want to go home. I need to be with Mum._'

Ruva nodded, her shoulder brushing Leo's. "Can I come too?" she whispered, "I'm worried about Nick too. And I want to help you."

Leo clutched her hand as they walked down the stairs. '_I want you there, too._'

So with a warm hand and heavy hearts, they travelled down the stairs to the Rec Room, where they spoke to the teacher on duty for that hour, Marmaduke.

Once Leo showed the message Mrs Wendyl had sent, she granted them permission to leave, telling them both to pack a small bag, enough clothes for overnight and nothing else.

They separated their ways, both packing their own bags.

When Ruva arrived in her room, Arra was sitting on the bed, thumbing her metal rose.

Ruva hadn't seen her hold it for ages, it had hardly moved from its place on the shelf this year.

"Arra?"

She looked up, her eyes lighting when she saw her. "I'm fine – really, I am – I just needed a bit of comfort."

Ruva nodded, grateful that Arra wasn't too upset. "That's good," she said, rustling through the wardrobe.

Arra noticed what she was doing and asked, "What are you looking for?"

"My rucksack," Ruva replied, "Nick is missing in Graevale – Leo's brother, that is, – so he's going back home tonight."

Arra stood up, putting a hand on Ruva's arm, "But why are _you_ getting your backpack?"

"I'm going with him," she whispered, gazing at the wardrobe, and the ribbons floating around her. "He said he needs me and…" she paused, not knowing what to say.

Arra's mouth quirked upwards. "When did this happen, huh? Last time I saw, you could barely bring yourself to make eye contact, let alone _speak_ with him. Don't look at me like that, I saw your dreamy-eyed gaze when you talked to him."

Ruva didn't try and deny it, not when Arra knew her so well.

But she didn't have to respond, not before her best friend wrapped her in a warm hug, saying, "You're really lucky to have each other, I'll be fine here – and I won't be on my own, either, Harry will be here too."

"You sure?"

Arra pulled back. "I'm sure, now you better finish packing, wouldn't want to keep your _lover_ waiting."

She laughed at the look Ruva sent, her, giving her a playful push on the shoulder.

Ruva was really going to miss her, now that she thought about it.

…

Ruva met Leo at the bottom of the stairs, he already had a bubbler in hand.

His eyes were red again, and Ruva knew he'd been crying again. She couldn't think of anything to say, so she just put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Leo gave her a grateful look, but he only said, '_Let's go._'

The house was silent when they arrived.

They stepped up to the door, knocking until it opened, Mrs Wendyl letting them in.

Her eyes were as red as Leo's, but she made an effort to keep a supportive face, embracing them in a hug and bringing them in.

The lounge room was full of people, but nobody was moving around or playing. It was almost as quiet as the silent Room.

She'd traded one silent house for another.

The two of them sat down on the couch, everyone making room for them. She could feel the sadness surrounding them, and the worry about Nick. She put an arm around Leo, just sitting with him and offering support.

She couldn't do much else, there was nothing she could say or do to make it better, but at least she didn't feel out of place. The Wendyls were all hurting, but they still made her feel welcome, and Ruva was so grateful for that.

…

Hours later, Leo was sitting with Ruva in the Girls' Room, ready to reassure any of the kids if they woke up from nightmares. It wasn't really a job – nothing had happened for hours – but the illusion of responsibility made him feel better. His Mum knew they wouldn't sleep easy tonight, she understood how they'd much rather be awake.

There was only five or so people that hadn't fallen asleep yet, they didn't want to miss the chance to hear any news.

He watched Ruva stand up, walking around the room to stretch her sore muscles. She had done it a few times now, in between their whispered conversations and hugs.

Ruva had showed him her ribbons, too, telling him how she liked to watch them sway when she was sick of living in her head.

The first glimmer of dawn snuck in through the curtains, and Leo relaxed, seeing the crack of golden light spread across the room.

Ruva smiled and walked over to the curtains, pulling them open and flooding the room with light.

Her face paled as she stared out the window, her fingers gripping the curtains tight.

'_What is it?_' he asked, pulling himself up off the bed.

Then he heard a woman scream.

He ran over to the window, squinting his eyes against the bright sun.

There were Meyarins.

_There were Meyarins_.

Leo felt sick in his stomach and a rising panic as he realised, _they were under attack_.

He heard a boom in the distance, and a spire of smoke started rising from the palace.

Leo heard Ruva gasp, and he reached for her hand.

But as he turned, Ruva was gone.

And then he remembered; Ruva's parents lived in the palace.

He charged down the stairs, already knowing what Ruva was doing. But as he ran into the lounge room, she had already disappeared through a bubbledoor, no doubt going to the palace.

The door closed before Leo could reach it.


	37. Chapter 36

**36**

Ruva landed in the palace receiving room, dropping to her knees and coughing on smoke.

It was warm – _too warm_ – but she needed to find them.

She _needed_ to.

Rubbing her stinging eyes, Ruva stood up in the smoke.

She started coughing before she even got halfway, and she had to drop back to the floor.

There was no fire in this room, but the smoke alone was enough to stop Ruva, it was as thick as a heavy fog.

Ruva crawled along the floor, trying to avoid the smoke. She didn't care that she might be running into danger, she needed to find Sela and Corbin…

If she _couldn't_…

Ruva had no idea what she'd do.

With that thought, she moved even faster, crawling down a hallway to the nearest set of stairs.

Ruva could barely see, but she could feel where she was going, and hear what was happening around her.

She wished she couldn't.

There were screams. Too many screams. There was yelling and shrieking and thumping and flames–

One of the screams was a child's.

Ruva heard running footsteps, but none of them near her.

She just kept crawling.

Past the smoke.

Past the screams.

She wouldn't stop until she found them.

…

Leo was running across the city rooftops, desperately throwing messages at Ruva.

But as far as he'd come, he was nowhere near able to breach that distance, meaning Ruva was all on her own.

But he had to find her – he _had_ to. Leo didn't know what he'd do if he couldn't.

So he was running.

Roof to roof, trying not to slip, trusting his ability to keep him alive.

Leo could hear what was happening on the city streets.

But he wished he couldn't.

He could hear the terrified sounds of the people, and the battle between the military and other races that had suddenly appeared a few minutes after he had started running.

The flames licking the side of the palace, an unnatural yellow that was creeping up the building.

Leo's lungs started to burn, but he just pushed even harder, throwing all his might into staying alive.

He pushed another message to Ruva, shoving so much energy into it that it seemed to explode out of his mind.

And then, he felt it, she had received his message.

Leo felt that there was a response, but he couldn't hear it – he had no idea how that worked.

He needed to get closer.

_Closer_.

…

Ruva was crawling through the ground floor, gasping for breath.

She felt like she was surrounded by heat, and the smoke had grown that little bit thicker.

"S-Sela!" she called. "Coooooooorbiiiiiiiin!"

But no response.

She hadn't found anyone else, either, they'd either left or died – from the flames or the Meyarins.

Finally, she reached their door, her throat burning from the smoke.

She stopped to hack and cough, but it wasn't much use, there wasn't much moisture left in her.

Ruva was about to reach up to turn the door handle, hoping desperately that they were inside, but a voice came screaming into her head; _Leo's_ voice.

'_RUVA GET OUT OF THERE PLEASE THE PALACE IS BURNI–_'

The message abruptly stopped, but Ruva could feel the power he had used to transmit it.

How far away _was_ _he_?

Ruva took a deep breath, ignoring how the air around her grated at her lungs.

'_O-Okay, I'll come. I just need to check our rooms._'

She didn't wait for a response before reaching up to the door handle, pushing it open and crawling in, slamming the door behind her.

"Sela? Corbin?" she asked, desperately hoping for a response.

But there was nothing.

Ruva gasped, _they – they aren't here_.

She gritted her teeth. They must have already escaped.

Ruva didn't want to believe otherwise.

Tears were streaming down her face – wasting the little amount of water left in her.

_Water_, that's what she needed.

The smoke here was lighter, just making the room a little hazy. But more was trickling in from the cracks in the doorframe, she had to find what she needed fast.

She crawled to the kitchen putting a bowl she found on the benchtop in the sink, turning the tap and begging water to come out.

It squirted for a second, before making a whistling noise and stopping.

Ruva grabbed the bowl and gulped at the water, managing three whole mouthful of water before it ran out.

It wasn't enough. She needed more.

But there wasn't a drop of water left, not even in the vase on the table.

Ruva walked back to the door, stopping right before opening it.

She didn't want to go back out into the thick smoke, not when it stabbed at her lungs and made her feel dizzy.

Just then, she heard a whoosh from the other side of the door, and heat started spreading through the doorway, making Ruva feel sick.

Orange light flickered from underneath the door, and Ruva knew – without a doubt – what it meant.

The flames were just outside.

…

Leo jumped onto the final rooftop, gasping as he tried to ignore the throbbing in his head.

The wall bordering the palace and gardens was right across from him, just one more jump and he'd make it.

His head hurt with every movement, but he _had_ to get there, he _had_ to make it.

Ruva was _so close_, almost within speaking range.

Leo took a couple steps back, until he was at the edge of the roof.

He ignored the fighting and screaming below, the blurs and flashes of different races, the roars and clashing of weapons.

Leo took in one final breath, before he started to run.

He sprinted across the roof, pushing all his power into every step he took.

The edge drew closer and closer, until he pushed off with one final burst.

He was flying through the air, above all the chaos and noise below him – and for a second, Leo forgot about everything below him.

He landed at the other end on his left leg, pulling him down with a thud.

The air was knocked out of his lungs, and Leo lay up there for a few moments, gasping for breath.

There was a sharp twang in his leg, but Leo ignored it, the pain would numb as long as the adrenaline was rushing through him.

He didn't hesitate before leaping from the wall into the nearest tree, trying not to wince from the pain in his leg, and the way the branches shuddered.

He ignored everything trying to stop him, barely even noticing the branches scraping against him.

_Please let her be okay_.

…

Ruva backed away from the door and the heat radiating from it.

She needed to get out _now_.

But before she made her desperate escape, she stumbled back to the sink, opening the cabinet and pulling out the first aid bag.

She didn't have time to treat herself now, but this could save her life – or someone else's.

Taking a final backward glance at the door, and the black noxious smoke creeping through the gaps, Ruva hurried into her room, shutting the door behind her.

The more barriers between her and the fire, the better.

She stumbled across the room, a bout of nausea coming over her. There was too much smoke in the air, every breath grated her lungs.

Finally she made it to the window, dragging the stiff latches open and gasping into the fresh air. Ruva pulled herself out of the window, collapsing into the garden bed, uncaring about the plants she was squashing.

Every breath still ripped through her lungs, but the air was so much cleaner, she could tell right away that it was helping.

She didn't know how long she rested for, but it helped, so when she heard the crackle of flames she was able to stand up and get away, but she didn't think it wise to run.

At first she headed towards the palace gates, but she heard the roaring sound of battle, and that was the last place she needed to be.

Instead, Ruva turned and headed towards the forest, knowing many places where she could be safe – though none near any water.

'_I'm coming, Leo,_' she said, having no idea if he could hear her.

She stumbled through the forest, and even though she was in the open air, her lungs were seized by fire, every breath burning through her.

It was agony – _absolute agony_ – but she had to keep moving. She wasn't safe here, she didn't know where she could be safe.

But the worst part wasn't her burning lungs, it wasn't the fire behind her, or the fact that she had no idea to move, no.

The worst part was that she had no idea where Sela and Corbin were.

They could be trapped in the palace behind her. Or worse they could have already… already… _died_.

She felt like collapsing at the thought of it.

They could be gone, she could've come all this way for _nothing_.

Ruva clenched her teeth, but had to stop to allow her to breathe, the fire in her lungs that she had to push through.

She started to crawl forward, the exertion ripping through her deprived body.

Ruva had barely made ten metres when she collapsed, her arms shaking and gasping for breath.

She couldn't do this – _she couldn't do this_.

'_Please come, Leo,_' she sent, her eyes growing heavy. '_I – I can't–'_

…

Leo was sprinting. _Sprinting_.

He heard Ruva's message, felt how desperate she was, the tiny amount of energy she had left.

'_I'm coming, Ruva. I'm coming I'm coming I'm coming._' In a strained tone he added, '_Stay awake for me, okay?_'

He was gasping for breath now, burning from the heat, the heavy smoke wafting from the palace.

He stumbled over roots and trees, the branches whipping across his skin, but he ignored it all, running in the direction of the heat.

Leo vaulted a rock, coming to a stop at the sight of Ruva.

She was limp on the ground, the only movement was the air gasping chest, her beautiful golden hair turned grey with soot.

Ruva turned her head towards him, the faintest look of recognition in her eyes, a tiny spark of hope when they were surrounded by smoke and distress.

Leo jerked back into motion at the look Ruva gave him, rushing forwards and scooping her up in his arms.

'_Ruva,_' he whispered, aching at the cough she gave when he moved her.

"L–L– L–Leo…" she gasped, staring into his eyes.

'_Shh,_' he said, placing a finger on her lips. '_Save your breath._'

Leo gazed into her eyes, noticing the soot gathered on her eyelashes and the clean tracts from where tears had fallen.

Ruva gave a small smile, reaching a shaking hand up to his face.

But before she could make contact, a boom shook the earth around them, and a giant spire of flame rose from the palace, the yellow flame casting an unnatural glow on the world.

'_We need to go._'

Leo hauled Ruva up, ignoring his muscle's protesting. But just as he was about to walk off – stumbling as he was – Ruva pointed back, and Leo saw a first aid kit sitting on the ground.

_A first aid kit…_ He would be able to _help_ her.

After some difficult manoeuvring he managed to grab it, and he stumbled away with it, eventually finding a swaying rhythm that made it easier.

After stumbling for ten minutes through the trees – trees that had passed in seconds on his way over – Ruva pointed upwards, at a bright blue bird.

It was _Ruva's _bird.

The bird chirped, swirling around in a frantic motion.

'_We need to follow her,_' sent Ruva, pointing in the direction the bird came from. '_Tua knows what to do._'

Leo didn't hesitate, just started following the vibrant bird – he trusted Ruva's judgement.

It was only when he was gasping for breath, the smoke in the air starting to tickle his lungs did he ask '_How far away is it taking us?_'

'_I don't kn-know,_' said Ruva, her eyes drooping. '_She just says f-f-follow, follow… follow..._'

Ruva's eyes pulled shut, and she became limp weight in Leo's arms.

Leo stopped to readjust, and then he continued, moving away from the fire.

Away from Ruva's home.

And, quite possibly, away from Ruva's parents.

Leo ignored the thought, the only thing he needed to worry about was surviving, everything else would come later.

They reached a clearing, and Tua chirped again while flying in circles.

Leo had no idea what it meant, and Ruva couldn't translate while she was asleep.

He gritted his teeth, trying to ward off the weakness in his legs. Why wasn't Tua continuing? They didn't have time to waste.

His arms were quivering and his legs swaying, he needed to find a safe place or he wouldn't last.

Tua suddenly swooped into a bush, one sitting against a steep hill.

Leo followed after the bird, ignoring the dread in his stomach that told them they had come all this way to hide in a bush.

Squeezing through the tiny gap, he swallowed his cringe at the branches scraping across Ruva's legs.

Leo turned, realising the bush was starting to go _into_ the hill.

He pushed further in, until he burst through the other side, falling with a thump onto the packed earth.

It was a _cave_…

A tiny, tiny cave, with a little stream of water spurting out of the ground.

That water just might be the thing that saved them.


	38. Chapter 37

**37**

Cool, sweet liquid was rushing down Ruva's throat.

She tried to cough it back up, but all that did was make her throat burn, tears trickling from her eyes.

'_Please drink, Ruva. I think it'll help._'

Recognising Leo's voice, Ruva swallowed, recognising the liquid as water.

She forced her eyes open, staring at her surroundings.

They were in some sort of cave, barely large enough for Ruva to lay down. Leo was looking through the first aid kit, his hair falling in front of his chocolate eyes.

The air was still, the only sound being water that trickled somewhere near her head, she could hear it filling up some sort of dish.

Leo turned back to her, the movement soft and precise.

'_How do you feel?_'

His voice was quieter than usual, and Ruva could see the way he used the cave wall for support.

She didn't answer verbally, not when her throat hurt just from breathing. '_I'm okay, but my throat still hurts a lot._'

'_Right, okay,_' said Leo, rustling through the first aid bag. '_I'll see if there's anything in here to fix that._'

Ruva pulled herself up into a sitting position, making her muscles burn, and she had to gasp for breath.

'_Let me help with that,_' she said, reaching a shaky arm forward.

Leo hesitated, then handed the bag over.

Ruva opened it and rifled through, finding what she was looking for in seconds.

She pulled out two vials of light green liquid, for general pain relief.

Passing one to Leo, they both drank at the same time, the minty liquid running smoothly down her throat.

Ruva sighed as nearly all her pain disappeared, only the slight rumble in her throat was left behind.

'_Better?_' asked Leo.

"Better."

Now that her aches were gone, Ruva noticed how the roof of the cave was low enough that she could reach up and put her palms flat on the roof. A tiny stream of water had carved its way through the packed earth, one point just large enough to fit the cup in. A small amount of the water was slowly filling the cup, the trickling noise soothing Ruva's anxiety.

And just as she was starting to feel calm, a huge boom sounded in the distance, making her flinch.

"What's happening to everyone else out there?" Ruva whispered, her stomach coiling.

Leo shuddered, '_I wish I could know, but then also…_'

Ruva nodded. "It hurts to know you can't help."

A heavy silence fell between them, and Ruva knew this would be the perfect time to tell Leo about her mental health diagnosis.

But the words wouldn't come.

Leo rubbed at his throat, before saying, '_The cup is full of water again, I think you need to keep drinking water._'

"No, you need it more," said Ruva, "You ran across the city for me, and that was far more than I managed to do." Ruva fell silent, thinking of Sela and Corbin once more.

Leo passed the cup to her. '_Please drink it, you were in all that smoke – it hurt you so much that you couldn't move – and water will help clear the ash from your throat._'

"Fine," whispered Ruva, her voice cracking and her throat hurting. Sipping at the water, she sent to Leo, '_But you're having the next cup, you need water, too._'

Leo nodded, placing the cup back in the tiny tract of water.

They were surrounded by silence again, distant sounds creeping into their cave.

This was the moment, the perfect time to reveal her secret, where they were alone and safe.

Her throat clamped up, and she knew it wasn't from the smoke.

A freezing breeze entered the cave, making Ruva shiver. She'd gone from the extreme heat of the palace to the near-frozen land around it, and she wasn't coping well with it.

Leo must have noticed her shivers, because he shuffled closer to her, wrapping his arms around her.

Ruva gave a grateful smile, leaning into his warmth.

'_L-Leo?_' Ruva sent.

'_Yeah?_'

'_I have – I have to tell you something,_'

Leo looked at her, placing his hand on her knee. '_I'll listen.__'_

Ruva couldn't speak, couldn't get a single word out as her throat locked up, she couldn't make even a squeak.

Leo must have known she couldn't answer, giving her a gentle squeeze before reaching for the cup in the tiny stream.

Gulping at icy water, he asked, '_Are you sure you didn't get burnt anywhere? I saw so much fire…_'

Ruva grabbed at her necklace, grateful for the change of subject. "I'm fine, it got really warm, but there was no fire near me, only smoke."

Leo relaxed, huddling closer to Ruva against the increasingly cold air.

'_I'm glad._'

…

Somehow, in the cramped cave, the two of them managed to fall asleep, curled around each other, preserving their heat.

When Ruva finally woke up, the cave was so dark that she could barely see from one end to the other.

Sitting up, she realised she had fallen asleep on Leo's lap, and she could see how uncomfortably he was slumped.

Shivering from the night air, Ruva suddenly realised how lucky she was to be alive.

She had bubbled _right into the fire_, nothing on her mind except Sela and Corbin. Somehow, there had been no fire between her and where she was desperate to go, even if the smoke nearly killed her.

She would've died – without a doubt – if it wasn't for Leo.

He had _crossed the entire city…_ for _her_.

She had felt the pain of that one message he sent her, the one that came screaming into her head, begging her to leave. It had rebounded in her head, as if it was sent with such force it couldn't just stop.

All of it was pretty amazing.

All the things Leo had done for Ruva.

A delayed wave of gratitude washed over her, Ruva finally realising everything Leo had done for her.

And so, she sat up, offering the sleeping Leo a little peck on the cheek.

His lips curled into a smile, a smile that made Ruva feel all warm and tingly inside. She snuggled in closer, listening to his steady breathing and heartbeat.

Ruva's ribbons came into view, and she let them drift around them both. She was surrounded by _so many_, so many people and animals and objects she'd come to care for.

The five brightest ones were her two gift ribbons, the darkening pink ribbon between her and Leo, and two white ribbons, connected to… _Sela and Corbin_.

Their ribbons were still solid and connected, meaning both of them were firmly alive. Waves of gratitude washed over Ruva, because now she knew, wherever they were, they're both okay.

She grasped onto both ribbons, letting the happy memories wash over her.

_Sela was braiding Ruva's hair, running her cool fingers through it, whispering about how beautiful she was._

_Corbin teaching her how to check a horse's health, not noticing the straw tangled in his hair._

_Picnics on the beach, watching the waves wash in and out._

_Cross country horse rides, spending the day out of the city._

_Crisp early mornings and cups of tea._

The moments played on and on, tears springing in Ruva's eyes at all the memories they had shared.

All of a sudden, something was different. Ruva pulled her ribbons into the background, trying to work out what had tweaked her senses.

And then she realised; it was silent outside.

Before there had been constant screams and yells and clashing in the distance, but now it was all gone.

_Had they… had they left?_

Ruva strained her ears, trying to hear any signs of battle.

Was that a yell? Maybe she was just imagining it.

How could she be sure?

Leaves were rustling in the breeze, and Ruva heard the flapping of a bird.

_What is a bird doing in all this smoke? Usually they'd_–

A vibrant blue bird swooped into the cave, landing on Ruva's knee.

"T-Tua!" she gasped, reaching a tentative hand forward.

"Ruva Equine Speaker," she replied, eyeing her hand.

She sounded mature, now, something Ruva hadn't noticed earlier – mainly because she was trying not to pass out.

"Why?" Ruva whispered, absorbing Tua's gaze. "Why did you come back?"

Tua was silent for a second, holding Ruva's eyes, "I could help you, so I did. Just like you did for me when I was a hatchling, even if you didn't know how."

Ruva's lips pulled in a wobbly smile, but then she sank, her shoulders caving in. "I'm so sorry, Tua. I– I had no idea how much I was hurting you and…"

Ruva's throat tightened, but she managed to pull the words that had been echoing through her for months.

"I didn't care _enough_."

There it was.

Those were the words that had been haunting her these past weeks. At the core of all her bad moods and her less than perfect view of herself. She always wasn't caring enough.

She didn't care enough about Arra, about her schoolwork, how tidy her room was, how her friends were feeling. No matter what she did, she was never _enough_.

Tua's head twitched, but all she said was, "You can't be everything."

She flew out of the cave, her feathers looking navy blue in the dying light.

"I know," Ruva whispered. "I'll never be as good as everyone else."

She didn't move until Leo woke.

…

Leo opened his eyes, his mouth dry and his neck aching.

It was twilight outside, the smoke casting an unnatural purplish glow to the ground.

Ruva was sitting beside him, her knees pulled up to her chest and her eyes staring at nothing.

'_Ruva?_'

She blinked, turning to Leo.

Something seemed wrong, she offered him nothing but her empty gaze, not lighting up like she normally would.

Well, she didn't have to light up at his presence – that would be weird – she just… her eyes normally sparkled when she saw him, that's all.

Leo rubbed his neck, trying to focus. Noticing the silence between them, he asked, '_Are you feeling better?_'

Ruva's shoulder twitched, and she turned her gaze back to the entry of the cave. In a small, weak voice she said, "It's safe to leave now, the Meyarins are all gone. Your mum will be worried."

Ruva was avoiding his question, he knew it, something had definitely happened while he was asleep. Did she have some hidden injury that she hadn't told him about? Leo knew that Ruva didn't like sharing her burden with people.

'_Before we go, I need another drink – and maybe some pain relief too._' he said, reaching for the cup that was overflowing with water. '_Do you want some, too?_' He framed the question innocently, giving Ruva a subtle cover to treat any hidden injuries she had.

Ruva nodded, her eyes still staring into the distance. "Just some water."

Leo bit his lip, passing the cup to her. He wouldn't pester her anymore, Ruva would take the help if she needed it.

But that didn't mean he ignored the way she stumbled when she stood up.

He grabbed the cup and put it back in the kit, pulling himself up beside her.

They both had to stoop as they came out of the tiny cave, but it was far easier than before, when Leo had been exhausted and Ruva unconscious.

'_Are you sure you're okay?_'

Ruva nodded, starting to walk forward in an almost robotic motion.

Leo walked alongside her and grasped her hand, his heart jumping at her grateful smile.

The two of them walked through the light smoke, just enough to tickle the back of Leo's throat.

He couldn't see very far ahead of them, but he trusted that Ruva knew where they were going.

Sure enough, she soon found the wall surrounding the palace and chunk of forest, where she turned and continued alongside the ginormous white bricks.

It was unnaturally quiet in the trees, no chirping birds or scattering squirrels. No city noises either, no hum of voices or the rumble of machines from construction sites.

They had lost all the noise, except for the gentle breeze wafting through the trees.

Leo squeezed a little tighter, Ruva returning the grip.

They kept walking and walking, and even though Leo was growing restless, Ruva kept an even pace, patient enough to wait.

Ruva suddenly stopped, a tiny squeak coming out of her throat before she locked up, unable to move.

Adrenaline flooded through Leo, and he frantically looked for what had stopped Ruva.

And then he saw it.

_A body_.

His hand spasmed around Ruva's, his breathing stuttered.

He stumbled a few steps forward, before running to the body.

It was a woman in soldier's uniform, her stringy blonde hair stuck to the side of her face. Her uniform was stained by a brown substance, which spread out in a pool around her.

_She's surrounded by her blood,_ he thought, and he felt like choking.

'_Ruva, you need to help her!_' he said, grabbing desperately at her arm. '_Y-You need to check her pulse… get out the first aid kit…_'

Leo trailed off at the hopeless look on Ruva's face.

He couldn't help but wonder, did Nick look like this, too?

Was he stuck like this in some alley, somewhere far enough that nobody had found his body yet?

Tears burned down his face, creating tracts in the ash covering it.

'_Please,_' he whispered, '_You know how to fix her – I know you do._'

Ruva crouched down, reaching over the pool of blood to close the woman's eyelids. "I can't save her, Leo," she whispered, her voice cracking. "We're far too late for that."

She straightened out the blonde hair, lifting the woman's arms to cover the wound.

"But we can remember her," she whispered, pulling out the ID card from the soldier's breast pocket.

"We can remember Samantha Labinsky."

…

They did everything they could for Samantha, eventually leaving, arms wrapped around each other.

The closer they got to the gate, the more bodies they found, but they didn't have time to examine them.

They had to keep moving.

The streets were silent and smoky, crimson stains splashed across the ground and walls of building, shop signs and buildings were creaking in the unnatural twilight.

They clutched each other tightly, footsteps echoing through the night.

People were starting to emerge, grasping each other, faces pale with shock. Some had minor injuries, others were gasping and alone.

Ruva tried ignore the body to her left, but when she heard a dog she couldn't help but look.

The dog was sniffing at the body, nosing at the fallen soldier's hand. Finally it sat down on its haunches, making a whining noise she didn't need a gift to translate.

Ruva sucked in a breath, feeling like she'd been punched. Waves of emotion rolled through her

Leo held her tight, tears coming to his own eyes, too.

'_We have to keep going, Ruva._' he said, running his fingers through her hair. '_They all deserve to be grieved over, but right now nobody knows that we're safe._'

Ruva's breathing steadied, and she pulled back. Leo was surprised by her sudden change of mood, until she said, "They could be grieving for us, too."

Leo stiffened, realising that his entire family would be feeling that way about them, the same way he had been feeling about Nick.

'_Okay, let's keep moving forwards,_'

A soft smile spread across Ruva's lips, and she reached for Leo's hand.

The warmth in Leo's hand was enough to keep him grounded, and the two of them walked through the desolate streets, the people emerging all in various states of shock.

'_I wonder if anything happened at the academy,_' Ruva sent, '_It's bad enough that Tryllin and Graevale were attacked… why would anyone do that?_'

Leo grew heavier. '_I don't know… and I'm not sure if we ever will. I don't want to overthink it._'

'_Yeah…_' Ruva said, drifting off.

Leo registered the blank look in her eyes and realised she was using her second gift, the one that let her see hundreds of colourful ribbons.

Tears rolled down her face, so Leo reached in to hold her. He didn't expect her to say anything, but she did. Leaning into the embrace, she whispered, "We're so far away."

Leo sunk. '_I know…_' he tilted her chin up, her face smudged with smoke and tear lines. '_But we won't make it unless we keep going._'

…

They walked into the night, until the only light was from buildings and the faint glow from the palace behind them.

Ruva was still feeling heavy, thinking about all the things that had happened in the last day. She wondered about that poor dog, if it had found a safe place to stay, the location of Sela and Corbin, and about _everyone_. She worried about the entire city, and all her friends beyond it. The worries dug deep into her stomach, and she was suddenly aware of how small and useless she was.

She was one of thousands across the city trying to find things – people, places, objects, hope – and there was nothing unique about that.

Having Leo beside her helped, it felt like he was stopping her emptiness from leaking out, that when his hand was in hers than she could hold all the little pieces of herself together.

But her mind was still a tidal wave – awash with memories and fear and loss.

The feeling stayed with her for the entire journey, sapping away at her energy, making her body feel alien.

And when Leo's house finally came into view, there was nothing left inside her.


	39. Chapter 38

**Look, I finally finished writing this chapter! I'm only… *checks list* more than a month too late.**

**I'm soooooooooooooooo sorry everyone that it took this long and it's entirely my fault but this chapter's pretty long so I hope that makes up for it.**

**Special thanks for cs, your review reminded me I needed to finish and it helped me get my act together.**

**Hope you all enjoy**

**38**

They knocked at the door, and it opened instantly, Rob jumping at the sight of them, wrapping them both in a hug.

"You're okay," he gasped, his dark eyes relaxing. "We-we had no idea…" he pulled back, examining them both. "Mum's gonna _kill_ you…"

Leo's head drooped. '_Might as well get it over with._' He then closed his eyes, and sent in a way that echoed in Ruva's head, '_Hi everyone, we're both back and safe now._'

Once the message finished, the house seemed to hold its breath.

"Did you send that to everyone in the house?" asked Ruva, ignoring her aching legs and how her throat was burning again.

Leo nodded, rubbing his temples – Ruva recognised the motion, Leo's gift was getting worn out.

A door slammed, making Ruva jump.

Mrs Wendyl marched down the hallway, her expression seemingly torn between anger and relief. "Leo, Ruva."

She pulled Leo in for a hug, and then reached for her as well. Ruva leaned into the embrace, letting the heat penetrate her numb skin.

"I'm – I'm so happy that you're both okay… You both just _disappeared_ and we didn't – we didn't know _where _you were."

Mrs Wendyl let go, then rose to her full height. "If I wasn't so grateful that you're both safe, you'd be dead right now. I _never _want to see either of you run into a warzone or… or bubble into a _burning building_ and _especially_ without your TCDs. Do I make myself clear?"

They both nodded, and Ruva felt her voice shrinking up and getting trapped in her throat.

"You'd both be grounded right now – if it weren't for those Meyarins declaring war on us – I'm expecting you both to pull your weight around here."

Mrs Wendyl reached in and gave them both a motherly kiss. "You both look exhausted – go see Tia in the Rumpus Room and she'll fix you up."

Leo looked to her and she nodded, both of them moving down the hallway, using each other for support.

They made it and collapsed on the couch, Ruva wheezing slightly and Leo's legs shaking.

It was only then that Ruva noticed the gentle hum of voices throughout the room, and she looked around to see strangers in various places.

There must have been around seven, all of them carrying some sort of injury. One had bandages wrapped all over one arm, another had small cuts all over her body, her clothes covered in little rips and red splotches. But by far the worst injury was an elderly man with pale skin, wheezing and shaking with bandages wrapped around his abdomen.

"Leo, Ruva, what happened to you?" Ruva blinked, looking up to see Tia. Her skin was sickly pale and dark bags sat under her eyes, wearing a grubby singlet and pants stained with… _something_. But Tia didn't notice her unkempt appearance, Ruva saw nothing but concern in her eyes.

Leo lifted his head, beginning to speak to them both. But before he could finish explaining, his voice slowly shrunk until it disappeared entirely.

Taking a quick glance at her ribbons, Ruva could see his gift was depleted. "He's tired," she said. "We both are."

"But… do you have any injuries?"

Ruva shook her head. "Not that I haven't already treated."

Tia tilted her head, and Ruva held up the first aid kit.

"Wow… where did you manage to find a first aid kit?" Ruva was about to answer, when Tia added, "Do you mind if I take it? We're getting really low on supplies here, I didn't have enough to clear up some people's injuries."

Ruva nodded, and Tia grabbed at the bag, pushing through its contents.

She seemed to have forgotten about them, until Leo tapped at her arm.

Once he had Tia's attention, he started moving his hands around, communicating in some form of sign language to his sister.

Tia nodded, then starting signing back, the motions utterly foreign to Ruva.

The conversation went back and forth for a while, until Tia nodded, then spoke out loud, saying, "If you're alright now, head upstairs and Greg will find you a bed. I want to see both of you again tomorrow, it seems like you were very close to the fire."

Leo nodded and began to stand up, but Ruva asked, "Why do you both know sign language?"

"We taught it to communicate with Leo," she said, already turning her attention back to the first aid kit. "Back when we didn't know his gift, we had all accepted he was going to be mute forever." Ruva felt Leo tense beside her, but Tia didn't notice. "Mum taught us all sign language so we could talk to him normally." Tia stood up, grabbing the first aid bag.

"But then he finally found his voice, and it blew us all away." Tia walked off, ruffling Leo's hair as she walked past.

Ruva stood up on shaky legs, then reached for Leo's hand. He rose, too, staying silent as they walked through the corridor.

It felt surreal, walking through the empty hallway. It usually bustling with life but was now dark and empty. There were many people in the Rumpus Room, and she could hear a hum of people in the dining room, but there was no one between them. Nobody came into the hallway, but the silence and shadows made you want to rush through, find the next place with other people.

Leo seemed unbothered by the silence, he walked at a slow pace, his eyes on the ground.

They approached the stairs, and Ruva relied heavily on the rail, trying to ignore the shaking in her legs. The space between them felt taut, so Ruva spoke before her throat could lock up from the pressure.

"I want to learn that sign language – if you don't mind. You don't have to… It's just…" Ruva stopped as she realised there was no response, not even a glance from Leo.

Ruva drew back, a weight settling in her throat.

What was she supposed to do now? Something was bothering Leo, but he wasn't responding to her, didn't want to respond. Could she share something with him, to get him to open up in return? Or should she offer a hug, let him cry on her shoulder if need be?

In the end, Ruva grabbed his hand, awkwardly holding it until they reached the bedrooms, finding Greg sitting outside the doors.

When he saw them, he didn't react like the others, with surprise and concern. He just rubbed his eyes mumbling under his breath.

"Two more…" he started, looking at a scribbled sheet of paper in front of him. "We're running out of beds up here, as it is we've got both trundles out in the boy's room and Matt and Lisa in Mum and Dad's bed."

Ruva could see how much stress Greg was under, but all she wanted was a cosy bed, her feet were aching from standing up for so long.

"I guess… Ruva, you can go in Tia's bed – she'll probably be up all night looking after patients. And Leo…" said Greg, flipping over the piece of paper. "Leo, Leo, Leo." he flipped over the page a few more times. "Well… you can take my bed and I'll crash in the rumpus room – or the silent room, if need be."

They nodded, parting ways and going into their separate bedrooms.

The Girl's room was quiet, every single bed was filled with a sleeping person, along with a few strangers who all had the same shell-shocked look on their faces.

Ruva climbed up the ladder to the last available bed, her legs shaking and feet going numb.

Once she was up, Ruva pulled her boots off, covered in ash and dew.

Finally, she felt herself begin to relax.

Today had been an absolute nightmare, but she'd survived it. The entire day, she'd kept her guard up, always ready to look over her shoulder, to run if danger found her.

But now, surrounded by people who were peacefully resting, she finally – _finally_ – felt at ease.

Ruva lay down, closing her eyes and soon falling into a sweet, dreamless slumber.

…

Leo gasped, fast sitting up, his heart pounding.

He was in the Boys' Room. It had just been a dream. He slowed down his breathing, relaxing his tense shoulders. The room was illuminated by murky grey light, creeping in through the window, and the sound of many people breathing, punctuated by the occasional snore.

Listening carefully, Leo could hear people moving about downstairs, the wooden floors giving slight creaks that echoed through the house. There was a familiar clatter of pots from the kitchen, but no small feet thumping through the hallway.

It was to be expected, Leo supposed, even Lisa and Matt knew what had happened yesterday – even if they didn't understand why.

Leo climbed out of bed, his muscles stiff and doing the stretch thing. He softly stepped out of the bedroom and headed for the stairs, noticing on the hallway clock that it was five-thirty – far earlier than he would normally wake up.

But today would be far from normal, Leo knew.

He walked to the kitchen, taking more time than usual for his stiff legs – he knew they were going to be sore, he expected no less after running across the city.

Leo found Mrs Wendyl washing the dishes, with Mr Wendyl drying them beside her.

'_Mum, Dad?_' Leo asked, watching them both stop at the same moment.

Mr Wendyl turned around first, smiling despite the bags under his eyes. "Leo! You're up early, son."

Leo smiled, leaning in to his father's hug. He smelt like smoke and dew – he must have only just arrived back.

They fell silent, and Leo was once again aware of everything that had happened outside.

'_What's going to happen today?_' he asked.

His father sighed, "So much has gone wrong – but you know that, don't you?"

Leo sighed, staring down at his feet.

Seeing the dismay in Leo's face, Mrs Wendyl said, "We can still help, though, Leo. I've spent the past couple hours preparing care packs for those out in the streets – whose homes have been destroyed, or have no way to access supplies. Tia made contact with the hospital, and they gave her a list of shelters where they still have room for people."

Leo looked up, noticing that there were indeed supplies on most surfaces, one entire bench was covered in shopping bags, all half-filled.

"Once everyone gets up, I'm going to send them out with the bags and information about shelters and safe places – the military will be doing something similar, of course, but it will take them so much longer to get organised.

"We can help them, Leo. I won't spend another day hoping in the dark, not when I can be the hope."

Leo smiled, wrapping his arms around his mother. '_Thanks, Mum._'

He really was grateful, his dark mood was flushed, replaced by the steady undercurrent of hope, slowly spreading through his entire body.

"Go eat some breakfast, Lion," said Mr Wendyl, "You're going to need it."

Leo went into the dining room, optimism fuelling him. Not even his father's nickname could drag him down. He started making his breakfast, and only once he had put his toast in the toaster did he look around, noticing the others in the dining room.

The atmosphere was sombre, entirely at odds with Leo's newfound hope, and it caught him, tried to pull him from his good mood.

Four people there were, two of them he knew, and two he didn't. Tia and Greg were sitting at one end, Greg slumped on the table, sleeping, while Tia stared at the wall, only moving to sip from the mug in her hands.

Leo's toast popped, making him jump. Calming his unsteady heartrate, he grabbed the toast and spread peanut butter over it, making a right mess of it.

He sat down across from Tia, about to say something, but held himself back when he realised Tia didn't even blink.

He didn't try waving in front of her face, or talking to her, or squeezing her hands, not like he used to. Now Leo understood that Tia's current state was from when she had been using her gift too much.

It was interesting, the ways different people recovered from using their gifts. It just made him feel tired – physically tired – but some people had it different. Ruva could fall asleep anywhere – like on New Year's Eve in Mardenia, when they'd watched the fireworks from the rooftop.

Some people's recovery manifested as pain, and Leo was glad he didn't have that disadvantage. He wouldn't be able to cope – not if it hurt him to speak so much.

He was lucky enough as it was, that his gift enabled him to _speak_.

Leo still vividly remembered when his gift manifested, and although it _seemed_ instant, there had in fact been a long build-up to it.

It started around the age of eight, when he realised that he would always be treated differently when he couldn't speak. Nobody cared about his opinion if he couldn't voice it. The frustration grew all year, until one day he just… _snapped_. It had been busy at home –busier than usual – and Leo couldn't get anyone's attention. He kept tugging his siblings, but none of them kept still long enough for Leo to sign to them. He had felt a rush of anger, and yelled in his head, '_WHY WON'T ANYONE LISTEN TO ME?!_'

Everyone around him had stopped, all of them staring at him. And he knew – he _knew_ he was the reason.

"Leo… was that you?" said Greg, who would have been thirteen.

Leo's fingers reached up, twitching in unreadable signs. His heart was pounding, his mind rushing around. His fingers kept rushing around until he realised… it _was_ him. He had somehow… somehow _pushed_ it into their heads.

"_Yes_," he finally managed to sign, watching his siblings eyes widen. Silence fell around him, and then Leo noticed it, a little tingling in the back of his mind; his _gift_.

Even though it was seven years ago, Leo remembered it perfectly.

He sat at the table for a long time, watching as everyone else slowly emerged, eating their breakfasts in various states of shock. The only one unaffected was Milly, who spent her time crawling through the dining room, burbling on with herself.

Everyone took extra care around her, making sure not to knock her over or bump their chairs into her. Milly loved the special treatment, soon realising she was the centre of attention.

Milly seemed to lighten the mood in the room, how she managed to be ever-cheerful when everything seemed to be falling to pieces.

"Leo?" Mrs Wendyl called from the kitchen, piercing Leo's brooding.

He grabbed his empty plate and headed to the kitchen, placing it in the already-growing pile of dishes.

'_What is it, Mum?_'

"Can you round up the older five for me? I want to send them out with the bags and start handing them out to people, get everyone older than you to come and help – oh, and not Tia, I need her medical knowledge here."

Leo nodded and set off around the house, relaying the message to all of his older siblings and two adults – he made sure to check they weren't injured, first.

Once they were all gathered in the kitchen, Mrs Wendyl was giving out instructions when Tia pulled him aside, no longer in her zombie-like state.

'_Tia, what is it?_' said Leo, rubbing at his arm where Tia had grabbed her.

"I know you're about to head out there, but can you tell me where Ruva is?"

Leo blinked, he had barely thought of Ruva all morning. '_I-I don't know. Maybe she… I think she's still in bed._'

Tia's eyelid twitched, but she didn't say anything.

'_What? What's wrong?_'

Tia's eyes darted. "I'm just concerned, that's all. Smoke inhalation can be harder to detect – it looks really similar to exhaustion. I just… I don't know. I need to check her."

'_Is it… is it _bad_ that she's still asleep?_'

"No! No. Not at all. Sleep is exactly what she needs right now."

'_So why are you so nervous?_'

Tia sighed, rubbing her face. "My gift wasn't at its best last night, not by the time I got to you two. I'm worried I missed something."

Leo took a closer look at Tia, noticing how she was in shambles. She was still in last night's dirty clothes, her hair pulled back from her face in a bun that was more of a ponytail now. Her eyes were slightly sunken into her head, and her hands were just a little bit shaky when they moved.

'_It's fine, Tia. You looked at me last night and thought I was fine, and I'm still fine now. You're doing great._'

Tia smiled, the bags under her eyes crinkling. "It really helps to hear that, Leo." She reached in for a quick hug making Leo feel warm inside and out.

But before he could speak, a loud, whining sound echoed through the house, making them both look around with darting eyes.

"Quick, everyone upstairs!" called Mrs Wendyl, her voice echoing through the house.

A rumble of voices and footsteps responded, Tia rushing into the Rumpus Room. "You head on up, Leo," she called over her shoulder, "I just need to grab some things!"

Mrs Wendyl walked to him shooing him out. "Come on, come on. You'll be safer upstairs."

'_Mum, what's happening? Why do I have to go upstairs? What about the care packs?_'

"That's a siren they installed last night, to sound whenever the city was under attack – they didn't expect it to be used nearly as quickly, oh dear," she bumbled on, giving Leo a gentle shove towards the hallway as she gathered things scattered across the bottom floor.

Although he rose up the stairs, Leo's stomach sank.

His emotional high was gone, replaced by bleak emptiness and worry, like there was a storm in his stomach.

His eyes dropped as he walked, and he turned into the bedroom. People were sitting on all of the beds, some on the floor.

Lisa and Libby were sitting on top of a bunk bed, Libby's round face pale, but smiling for Lisa's sake. Lisa seemed mainly confused about the situation, and she kept asking awkward questions that Libby had to deflect.

But Leo didn't listen to the questions, he was distracted by something else.

_Ruva_.

She was lying on the top bunk, blanket pulled around her, her plait – well, it was more of a rope now, falling apart and getting knotted where it shouldn't.

Her face was peaceful, despite the ash smudged on her face and her pillow.

She _looked_ fine, but Leo couldn't quite let go of what Tia had said. It lingered over him like a bad mood, making him check that she was breathing steadily.

Leo imagined himself laying up there next to her, then choked, smothering the impulse.

No, that was just – it would be… He just _couldn't_.

Instead he sat on the bed below her, feeling like everything was trying to weigh him down.

A buzz sounded from Ruva's backpack, Leo reached into it and grabbed her TCD. He switched it on, before feeling a surge of guilt.

Why was he doing this? This was _Ruva_'s Device, he had no right to look there.

Leo switched it off and put it back down, rubbing at his neck.

How had he _done _that? He didn't even hesitate, and he _knew_ that he would've read her messages and… and invalidated her privacy.

Leo slammed the TCD on the bed, pulling his hood over his head and zipping it tight.

The Device continued to buzz throughout the day, Leo clenching his teeth each time. Everyone else was growing tense, distant screams echoing from the battles fought.

…

The buzzes grew more and more frequent, until Leo finally relented and turned it on, the screen filled with messages from Ruva's parents. He scrolled through the list, watching how the initial messages full of concern turned into panic and desperation.

Leo opened the TCD, and swiped to send a message back.

Then he stopped.

What would he say? He couldn't just go, _Hi there, this is Leo, Ruva's friend. Ruva is in the middle of Tryllin and yesterday almost died from smoke inhalation. Nice to meet you._

That would just be weird. Leo kept trying to find a suitable message, but nothing he tried worked.

He spent an hour staring at the device, watching the battery slowly drain. He had gotten absolutely nowhere. Eventually he turned off the device and shoved it in Ruva's bag, flopping back on the bed and pulling the strings of his hoodie tight.

And then he noticed the shuffling on the bed above him, and the blanket was thrown back, hanging over the side of the bed. _Is Ruva awake now?_ he thought, before reaching out to her.

She responded instantly. '_What's happening, Leo? Why is everyone in here? And where are you?_'

'_I'm sitting just below you. Everyone's in here because it's safer. They attacked again. The Meyarins._'

'_Oh._'

'_What? You sound disappointed?_'

'_I just thought… maybe I could go back to Sela and Corbin today._'

Leo felt his stomach sink. Ruva hadn't seen her parents for _weeks_, not since Kaldoras break. He reached for her backpack, grabbing out her TCD. '_Your Device has been pinging off all day, your parents have been trying to reach you for hours._'

'_All day? How long have I been asleep for?_'

Leo climbed up the bunkbed ladder, Device in hand. '_It's two o'clock now, and we both went to bed around… I don't know, actually, but pretty late._'

Ruva smiled, whispering her thanks as he passed the TCD over. She turned it on, the bright light from the screen illuminating her face, still smudged with smoke. A small frown flickered across her face, her hand poised above the keyboard.

'_What is it?_'

Ruva flinched – a barely noticeable movement. "I just… don't know what to say."

_That makes two of us,_ thought Leo, but aloud he said, '_Just do something simple, like, Hi, I'm safe and well in Tryllin at Leo's house._'

Ruva nodded, typing slowly at the keyboard until she composed her message.

"Do you think that's good?"

Leo climbed up fully and sat beside her, looking over the message. '_Maybe add in our address, twenty-three Morgan Avenue._'

Ruva nodded, adjusting the message before sending it.

Not a minute after she sent it, Corbin and Sela both replied, asking if they could call her.

"I'm going into the hallway to call them," said Ruva, climbing down the bed.

Leo nodded, and for a second he was going to climb down, too. Then he stopped. He would just get in the way of Ruva's conversation with her parents. She didn't need him.

Leo flopped back, breathing in the stuffy air, the bed still warm from where Ruva had slept.

…

Ruva stepped around piles and people, weaving her way to the door where she could make the call in peace. Leo had told her it was already past noon, but she could barely comprehend that, not until she saw the massive skylight from the hallway. It was cloudy overhead – a mix of clouds and smoke. It gave the light a slightly orange tinge, making everything feel like twilight except… _wrong_.

Tia stepped into the hallway, giving a slight groan before noticing Ruva. Her eyes lit up, and she took a couple stumbling steps forward.

"Ruva… you're awake now. I need to – I need to examine you again, to see how – how you've… progressed. Changed. Since last night."

Ruva unconsciously took a step back. "I need to call my parents first." Her voice wavered more than she'd like, _was something wrong with Tia?_

"O-Okay. I'll just… just…" Tia slowly blinked, her eyelids drooping as she stumbled.

Ruva sighed, putting her TCD back in her pocket. Tia must be _exhausted_. She hadn't slept since… since… _two nights ago_, and by the looks of things, she couldn't hold on any longer.

Ruva took Tia's hand and gently guided her back into the Boys' room, nudging people off a bed and letting Tia collapse on it. She fell asleep in seconds, and Ruva took the time to take off her sneakers – wow, her feet were actually really big – and drape a blanket across her.

After examining her work, Ruva's eyes caught Mrs Wendyl's, and she gave a subtle nod.

The gesture was only small, but a trickle of heat still weaved its way through her. Ruva smiled and retreated, returning to the half-light of the stairwell.

Clicking the door shut behind her, Ruva opened her device, finally connecting to Corbin's TCD. He was the one more likely to answer, especially if Sela was working.

Her stomach churned as the message connected, but as soon as Corbin came into view, her nerves disappeared.

"R-Ruva!" Corbin said, jumping from his slouched position. "You're okay!"

Ruva smiled, Corbin's still-present enthusiasm making her feel warm all over.

"Why didn't you call back earlier? And where were you yesterday? The academy notified us that you weren't there and we just didn't know. Ruva?"

Ruva blinked, she hadn't noticed that she'd started building up walls between her and the question, but Corbin had. She blinked, forcing herself to pay attention.

"Oh I'm sorry, Ruva," said Corbin, seeming to realise what was happening before she could. "I didn't mean to overwhelm you…" he trailed off, looking to Ruva for answers.

Ruva opened her mouth, but she didn't know how to respond.

Corbin realised that, too, so he continued, "Do you want me to get Sela? She's just catching up on sleep before her next shift at the hospital."

"The hospital?" Ruva repeated, the words making it past her throat – albeit quietly.

"Yeah," said Corbin, pretending not to notice Ruva's response. "We've been here at the Tryllin Major Hospital all night, once we evacuated the palace and Sela was dispatched here. She's taken on the position of Senior Doctor, but with so much chaos and missing people, she's more of a Wing Manager, if you know what I mean."

No, Ruva didn't know what he meant, but she wanted to listen to Corbin as long as she could, so she nodded, listening to Corbin speak as he walked down a corridor.

"The hospitals were overflowing when we arrived – absolutely filled with patients, the people with minor injuries were recruited and they had to set up in the courtyard, there was just _so many_." Corbin paused here, the bags under his eyes becoming more apparent to Ruva. "We've finally managed to find some rest, but it will be like this all over again once the Meyarins leave. If they leave."

"What can I do?"

Corbin blinked, and Ruva felt the same way. The question had come out unbidden, but Ruva knew it was the right one, and she needed to know the answer.

"Um… I'm not sure, actually. People need to be coordinated to the organised shelters, like at the City Hall and the Walter Lane Markets. I can't think of much else." Corbin's eyes darted around. "If I'm really honest, all I want is to come and find you, but there's too many people. Too many others who need helping."

Corbin sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Sela's coming now, I'll hand over to her."

Sela was even more exhausted than Corbin had hinted at, but Ruva was content just to hear her voice and know that she was okay. The conversation passed in a blur, until she waved goodbye, promising to reach her as soon as they both could. It would be difficult for her, taking care of so much in the hospital for so many different people.

Ruva switched off her TCD, stepping back into the Girls' room, to wait the long hours until they could help.

…

The strange orange glow had deepened into a red twilight when a siren sounded. It sounded in a repetitive pattern, one long beep then two short ones.

Ruva blinked, turning to Leo, surely he would know what the sirens mean. But he looked confused as she did, until Greg burst in from the other room, and explained that it was an all-clear alarm, meaning the enemy had left the area.

Everyone started standing up and rustling, whispers growing, talking about the all-important question; what would happen next?

Greg seemed to hesitate for a second, before inviting them all into the Boys' Room where they could listen to Mrs Wendyl and ask questions, she would already have some sort of plan in place.

Everyone from the room got up and moved next door, standing against the walls and sitting on the floor like they were in primary school, ready to listen to their teacher.

"Although it has been declared safe," started Mrs Wendyl, grabbing everyone's attention. "The Meyarins are intelligent, and they may decide to double back on us, which means we have to be careful. None of us are hurt, but our first call of duty is to help those who are. Last night I prepared care packages for those who need them, including food, basic first aid like bandages, and lists of shelters and where they can find medical support or a place to sleep.

"I think we should send people out with these packages in small groups, but most people will stay here, so we can keep track of people. I'm also registering this house as an official shelter, to keep the strain off the hospital. With everyone's help we will prepare more beds and food for those who need it, and it means that everyone is welcome to stay for a while longer." She glanced around the room, looking slightly nervous – something Ruva had never seen before. "Any questions?"

"Who will hand out the packages?" asked Libby, looking as if she couldn't bear to be in the house any longer.

Mrs Wendyl gave a motherly smile. "Not you, Lib, you're only twelve." then, she addressed the rest of the group. "I think I will send out… Rob, Nick, Leo, Ruva and…" she looked around at the adults in the crowd. "Melanie and Jess."

Ruva found who she was looking at, she had seen Melanie last night, with little cuts peppered all over her body. Jess, however, Ruva hadn't seen before. He was a tall, but solemn looking man.

"Now, that list _might_ change," Mrs Wendyl continued, looking at Greg. "But I need people here, too. Especially since Tia's still resting."

Ruva looked over, noticing that Tia was indeed still sound asleep, oblivious to the assemblage around her.

"I think that's all I need to say for now, so let's head downstairs – but _quietly_, just in case."

Ruva followed the group down the stairs and was soon given many jobs to do, the entire house bustling as they prepared to help people. She could barely remember what happened that hour, other than the constant noise and that Leo was always near her, even if they were too busy to talk.

Time started to blur, and somehow Ruva found herself at the front door, care packs in each hand, ready to go. It was dark outside, and everyone around her seemed to know what they were doing.

'_Are you ready to go?_' asked Leo, and Ruva jumped to find that he was beside her.

"Uh – yes. I think."

Leo's lip twitched. He looked like he knew exactly what was going on in her head. '_We're about to start handing out the care packs. You've been pretty out of it for a while now._'

Ruva blinked, then gave a small smile. Leo had been with her even when she was zoned out, and she really appreciated it.

Nick opened the door. "Come on, let's go everyone."

"I–" Ruva started, but when Nick looked back at her, nothing came out.

Leo gave her a little nudge. '_It's alright, we'll take it slowly… we just need to help people._'

"Never mind," Ruva said to Nick. "We can go now."

Nick opened the door, a gust of wind spreading through the house. A person was standing on the porch, just about to knock on the door.

Ruva froze, and Leo gave her a little nudge. '_Ruva, is that–_'

But before Leo had even finished, Ruva ran forward into Corbin's arms.


End file.
